As ground war looms, Egypt pursues truce
The fifth day of Israel's campaign against Gaza rocket operations finds it at a crossroads of whether to launch a ground invasion or pursue Egyptian-led truce efforts. Israel has said it is not prepared to enter into a truce without guarantees the rocket fire won't resume.
In Cairo, leaders of Hamas, Qatar and Turkey were in talks with Egyptian officials to see whether Hamas would agree to a stop in its rocket attacks, Egypt news website Ahram Online reported.
"There are discussions about the ways to bring a cease-fire soon, but there are no guarantees," said Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who hosted the meeting. Speaking at a news conference, Morsi said he was working with Turkey, Arab countries, the U.S., Russia and western European countries to halt the fighting.
According to the website of Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Hamas demanded a lifting of the Gaza blockade and guarantees of an end of targeted killings in Gaza in exchange for halting its rocket fire, the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine al-Youm website reported Saturday.
Israel began its air assault Wednesday after firing a missile into the car of a Hamas military commander, killing him. The blockade refers to Israel and Egypt's policing of the Gaza border.
"We have an interest in not escalating the situation with our Israeli neighbor," said Mohamed El Mekkawi, a member of the Egypt foreign relations committee of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. "We want them to calm the situation and not escalate the situation because it will create instability in all of the region -- for Egyptians, Israelis, for all Arab countries."
Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas spoke for 20 minutes by phone Sunday with Egypt's Morsi, according to Haniyeh's office.
Haniyeh told Morsi he supports such efforts, provided Hamas receives "guarantees that will prevent any future aggression" by Israel, his office said in a statement.
A quick agreement appears unlikely because the two sides are far apart in their demands. Hamas is linking a truce deal to a complete lifting of the border blockade on Gaza imposed by Israel and Morsi's pro-Western predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, in 2007, after the Islamists seized the territory by force. Hamas also seeks Israeli guarantees to halt targeted killings of its leaders and military commanders.
Israeli officials reject such demands. They say they are not interested in a "timeout," and want firm guarantees that the rocket fire will finally end. Past cease-fires have been short lived.
Israeli Defense Ministry director Udi Shani told Army Radio that Israel's operation against Gaza militants was not meant to topple the Islamic militant Hamas, but to cripple its capabilities to attack Israel.
"If we don't achieve our goals from the air, we will have to enter by ground," Shani said. "I hope in the coming days it will be decided."
In Iran, Israel's arch-foe, parliament speaker Ali Larijani urged Islamic countries to send weapons for Palestinians.
"Today, serious military help is expected. Why can the United States and the West hand over weapons to the Zionist regime, or Israel, but weapons should not be given to Palestine?" state radio broadcast Larijani telling parliament.