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Cairo talks resume after new 72-hour ceasefire

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Long-term ceasefire talks in Cairo have resumed after a new 72-hour ceasefire, agreed by Israel and Hamas and brokered by Egypt and the Palestinian Authority (PA) with the help of the Arab League, went into effect at midnight local time. A few minutes before the ceasefire came into effect, Hamas fired rockets at Tel Aviv for the first time in a week.

Israeli negotiators had left Egypt after rocket fire resumed on Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that “Israel will not engage in negotiations under fire,”while Hamas threatened to abandon the talks over the weekend unless their demands were met in full. The renewal of the ceasefire suggests that Hamas backed down from its threat.

The negotiations themselves have shown mixed progress, with Egypt and Israel unwilling to give into Hamas’ long list of demands, and Hamas in turn refusing to consider demilitarisation, Israel’s main demand.

Alex Fishman in Yediot Ahronot writes, “While it is the Egyptians who have been torturing Hamas in Cairo and have flatly rejected all of its demands, Hamas would not dare insult the circus ring leader, Sisi. That is why Hamas has continued to fire on Israel, so that Israel might pressure Egypt into treating it a bit better.” He also notes that, “Director of Egyptian Intelligence Mohamed al-Tuhami won’t even speak directly with the Hamas representatives; he talks only with Azzam al-Ahmed, the Palestinian Authority’s representative on the delegation.”

There are indications that the talks between Israel, Egypt and the PA have been constructive, but Hamas continues to stick to its maximal demands. The Twitter account of Hamas’s Qassam Brigades tweeted this morning that Hamas remains ready to return to violence.