IDF soldiers leave Gaza as ceasefire begins
IDF soldiers leave Gaza as ceasefire beginsReuters

A senior member of Hamas said on Wednesday that ceasefire negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Arab factions will resume in Cairo later this month.

The announcement by Khalil al-Haya, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, was reported on the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen network.

The Egyptian-mediated talks are meant to cement an open-ended ceasefire agreement announced on August 26 which halted Israel's self-defense operation in Gaza.

The talks are meant to discuss some unresolved issues, specifically Israel’s demand that Gaza be demilitarized and Hamas’s demands for an airport and a seaport in Gaza.

Hamas has repeatedly declared that it would reject any attempts to disarm the terrorist groups in Gaza, while Israel has outright rejected Hamas’s demands for an airport and seaport.

While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu originally conditioned the rehabilitation of Gaza on its disarmament, the issue did not come up at an international donors’ conference on rebuilding Gaza, which was held this week in Cairo.

Israeli officials admitted that in reality, the rehabilitation of Gaza was not contingent upon its demilitarization but only on a ceasefire, adding that Israel will demand the demilitarization in return for the continued development of the coastal enclave.

Despite the ceasefire, reports have revealed that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have already started rebuilding the terror tunnels. Video evidence shows that the renewed digging of the tunnels started even minutes after the ceasefire.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)