Egypt is expected to ask Israel and the Palestinians to return their negotiating teams to Cairo in order to discuss a more permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. [A senior Israeli official says negotiations between the sides are set to start on Tuesday.]

On August 27, when the cease-fire ending 50 days of warfare between Israel and Hamas went into effect, it was agreed that talks would resume within 30 days. That doesn’t mean hostilities are set to resume at the end of this week, but the date nevertheless serves as a milestone for both sides. However, Hamas’ difficulty in coming up with tangible achievements from the fighting that could justify the suffering of Gaza’s inhabitants in the war does complicate the situation and raise questions about the possibility of a durable cease-fire.

Hamas leaders are clearly not all on the same page regarding their intentions. Moussa Abu Marzouk, who has come to the Strip from his long-time home in Cairo, said recently that if the blockade on Gaza is not lifted, a renewal of the fighting is inevitable. Another senior Hamas figure, Mahmoud al-Zahar, has said that Hamas would agree to the presence of employees of the Palestinian Authority in the Strip, but only as observers and not in active security positions.

PA officials have already begun complaining that Hamas seeks to put obstacles in the way of assigning members of PA security forces to the Strip, saying that, without agreement on the issue, it will be difficult to reopen the border crossings to Israel and Egypt for the regular movement of both people and goods.

Read the article in full at Haaretz.