Palestinians say Gaza talks will stop without long-term deal

Palestinian officials have warned that negotiations will not be extended in Cairo, if a deal to secure a long-term ceasefire in Gaza is not agreed with Israel on Tuesday.

“If they fail to formulate an agreement, the negotiations will end,” said Hamas official Izzet al-Rishak, according to Ynet news. “We are not interested in lengthening negotiations anymore.”

“A significant part of the [Palestinian] delegation did not want to extend the truce, up until the last moments [before it expired],” he added.

A five day truce came to an end on Monday but was extended for a further 24 hours until midnight (2100 GMT) on Tuesday to allow for further negotiations in the Egyptian capital.  

The head of the Palestinian negotiating team in Cairo said that media reports of a deal being close were wide of the mark.

“Everything you’ve heard in the media about progress is not true,” Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Palestinian negotiating, told reporters, adding that violence will return to Gaza if an agreement is not reached on Tuesday. “I hope we will use every minute tomorrow to reach a deal.”

“Maybe we will reach an agreement and maybe not. So far we’ve only agreed to extend the ceasefire by one day,” he added.

The main barriers to a deal include Israel’s reluctance to agree opening Gaza’s crossings and extending fishing limits in the Mediterranean Sea, according to a Palestinian official who spoke to Al Jazeera English.

The official said Israel will only discuss Hamas’s desire to open a seaport and airport in Gaza “at a later stage,” while talks are continuing over the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. On the Israeli side they are requesting Hamas hand over the remains of two soldiers killed in the Gaza assault.

It has been agreed, however, that the transfer of building materials to Gaza for reconstruction projects will be done under international supervision, according to the unnamed Palestinian official. More than 209,000 Palestinians in Gaza are still sheltering in UNRWA schools, according to the UN, in a devastating month-long Israeli assault that has killed more than 2,000 people.

Israel has reportedly given up on its aim of achieving the demilitarisation of Gaza, previously believed to be a key demand of their negotiating team. A former Palestinian minister said on Tuesday that Israel has agreed instead to an international task force charged at preventing arms from reaching Gaza.

“It is estimated that Israel’s demand may not be realised,” Ashraf al-Ajrami, former Palestinian Authority Minister of Prisoners, told Israeli army radio. “The Israeli side will soon be satisfied with a Hamas that has limited access to arms, and that’s what will end up being the result of the talks in Cairo,” he added.

While talks continue for another day in Cairo on Tuesday Israeli ministers have said the ceasefire will hold if no further rockets are fired from Gaza, but that they are ready to launch more attacks if deemed necessary.

“If they shoot us, we will respond,” Tzipi Livni, a member of Israel’s security cabinet, told Israel Radio.

Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, speaking from an Israeli navy base in Ashdod, warned the Gaza assault has not finished and will not be over until their demands are met.

“Operation Protective Edge is not over,” he said on Monday night. “As we promised, we will not stop until we bring quiet and security [to Israel]. We are prepared for the results of the discussions in Cairo, whether it brings quiet or if someone tries to challenge us with escalation.”

“The IDF [Israeli army] is prepared and ready to respond strongly to any development. Hamas will not drag us into a war of attrition and, if it tries, it will be struck very hard,” he added.

While Israeli politicians are presenting a somewhat united front publicly, there are increasing reports of splits behind the scenes over the progress of negotiations in Cairo.

There was said to be a “stormy” cabinet meeting last week when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman confronted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a copy of the draft ceasefire proposal, saying that the Israeli premier had withheld it from ministers, according to Haaretz.

Netanyahu is reported to have “found himself on the defensive” and swiftly exited the meeting to meet with mayors from the south of Israel.

“I didn’t say ‘yes’ to this draft and for now we do not accept it,” he is reported to have told his ministers, explaining the next day that it had been rejected as it does not meet Israel’s security demands.

Netanyahu then pledged to present a draft agreement to the cabinet if one arises that meets his demands. Ministers, according to Haaretz, were said to have “angrily complained that Netanyahu and [Defence Minister] Ya’alon intended to present a final agreement to them and expect their automatic approval.”

“They were not far from wrong,” reported Haaretz’s Barak Ravid.