There will be no escape from toppling the Hamas regime which is the Iranian proxy in the Gaza Strip.
A draft for a Gaza ceasefire has been drawn up in talks between Egypt and Hamas, a Hamas official told Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram. Salah El-Bardawil, a member of the Hamas delegation to talks in Cairo, said that the draft includes an 18 month ceasefire and an opening of the border crossings to 80 percent of the types of goods.
Al Bardawil said that the Rafiah crossing will remain closed for the time being. He added that Israel opposes the idea of placing international observers at the crossings.
The Hamas terrorist organization says it doubts that Egypt will successfully broker a one-and-a-half year ceasefire agreement between Israel and "Palestinian groups in Gaza" by Thursday, Egypt’s initial target date.
A Hamas official, part of the Egyptian-brokered negotiations, told Reuters that Hamas and Egyptian officials held another meeting on Wednesday night. However, he did not say whether Hamas saw any progress in the negotiations, which began in Cairo on Tuesday morning.
In the interim, Arabic-language media have reported that terrorist organizations have resumed their military exercises in Gaza. The exercises include simulated abductions of capturing Israeli soldiers. Hamas officials stated Thursday that if a ceasefire agreement will not be reached by Thursday, they would resume their rocket attacks on Israeli cities.
Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) has promised voters that he will topple the Hamas government in Gaza, who he says is run by “Iranian proxy.”
“At the end of the day, there will be no choice but to remove the Iranian threat in Gaza,” Netanyahu said Wednesday night at the Herzliya Conference. “There will be no escape from toppling the Hamas regime which is the Iranian proxy in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said. “This is the real threat we are facing,” he added.
Netanyahu further stated that the Arabs are too weak and divided to accept minimal concessions for any peace agreement. In addition, he said, “Any territory that we evacuate today will be taken over by Iran,” alluding to Israel’s unilateral pull-out from Gaza in 2005, which has led to the Hamas threat that Israel currently faces.
Both Israel and Hamas have held independent talks with Egypt, as neither side wants to give legitimacy to the other. Israel demands that captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit be returned and holds the Hamas terrorist organization as responsible for initiation of the recent war due to its constant firing into Israel. Although Israel has unilaterally issued a ceasefire on January 18, Hamas and Fatah terrorists from Gaza have continued to fire mortar shells and rockets into Israel.
A Hamas official stated that although Hamas welcomes a European or Turkish presence at the border crossings, Israel rejects this proposal.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit stated Wednesday that he hoped for a breakthrough of a ceasefire in the next few days. However, he, too, said he doesn’t think that it will happen this Thursday. “If it does not take place in the next few days, I can confirm that Egypt will keep moving on the path which ensures this truce is achieved in the very near future,” Abul Gheit said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Hamas police broke in to a UNWRA aid distribution center, stealing blankets and other supplies intended for impoverished Arab families in Gaza.