BICOM

Both US Secretary of State John Kerry and United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are in the region as they attempt to help broker a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Last week, Hamas rejected an Israeli-approved Egyptian initiative which would have seen an end to Israeli air strikes and all types of Hamas attacks on Israel. Talks on border crossings within 48 hours was also part of the proposal. Since the Hamas rejection, fighting has intensified with the death toll growing. US President Barack Obama said yesterday that he has asked Secretary Kerry “to do everything he can to help facilitate a cessation to hostilities. We don’t want to see any more civilians getting killed.”

Kerry arrived in Cairo yesterday and met with Ban Ki-moon, who is scheduled to move on to Israel today. Ban yesterday met with Egyptian officials, who are still considered the most likely interlocutors between Israel and Hamas. During a joint press conference yesterday with Ban, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri indicated that an Egyptian initiative would address Hamas demands for greater access between the Gaza Strip and bordering Israel and Egypt. Shukri said, “The initiative clearly states that border crossings get opened after a cease-fire and when security stabilises.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday met with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Qatar to discuss a possible ceasefire. It has been mooted that PA forces could take responsibility for the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt in a potential truce agreement. A spokesman for Abbas reiterated the PA’s call for an immediate ceasefire. However, Hamas leader in Gaza Ismael Haniyeh struck a different tone saying in a televised speech that Hamas would “end the blockade with its blood and weapons and there would be no return back.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sky News Arabic yesterday that, “If Hamas really wants a cease-fire, I am sure that we can get to that … But they don’t want one.”