Defense Ministry military-political chief Amos Gilad returned from Egypt empty-handed on Sunday as Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman tries to convince Hamas to reach an agreement for a halt in terrorist attacks. Egypt is worried that a full-scale Israeli counterterrorist operation will cause Gaza residents to crash the border and stream into Egypt, as they have done twice in the past two years.

Hamas has demanded that Israel open all Gaza crossings from Israel as well as the crossing at Rafiah, which separates the Egyptian and Gaza side of the city. Israel has insisted that an agreement include the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. 

The Egyptian government news agency stated that Suleiman is pursuing "intensive contacts with all Palestinian and Israeli parties in order to bring the two sides' points of view closer in order to reach an agreement on a truce as quickly as possible."