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2014-08-24 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
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Egypt calls for Gaza ceasefire as fighting rages
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Egypt called on Israel and the Palestinians on Saturday to halt hostilities and resume peace talks but both sides kept up attacks. Indirect ceasefire talks mediated by Egypt to end the conflict collapsed after rockets were fired from Gaza during a truce and Israel responded with air strikes.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Saturday called on both sides to resume talks. Palestinian President Abbas, in Cairo after meeting President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, also urged a swift resumption of negotiations. A senior Egyptian diplomat said Abbas had informed Sisi that Hamas was prepared to come to Cairo for further talks, but Hamas did not immediately confirm the report. Israel also had no immediate comment.
The Egyptian diplomat said Cairo expected to receive responses from both Israel and Hamas by Monday.
The talks, conducted in Cairo, do not involve direct meetings between Israeli officials and representatives of Hamas. Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organisation and Hamas for its part refuses to recognise Israel. Egyptian officials shuttle between the two sides.
Hamas has said it will not stop fighting until the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza is lifted.
Both Israel and Egypt view Hamas as a security threat and are reluctant to make sweeping concessions without guarantees weapons will not enter the economically-crippled enclave.
The Cairo talks had aimed to secure a lasting deal that would open the way for reconstruction aid to flow into the Gaza territory of 1.8 million people, where thousands of homes have been destroyed.
“My main goal is for the truce talks to resume in Egypt as soon as possible to avoid more casualties,” Abbas said in Cairo.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the movement was “in favour of any real effort that will secure the achievement of Palestinian demands and we will study any proposal when presented.”
Hamas leaders said on Saturday they have signed off on Abbas’s bid to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), a move that could open up both Israel and the militant group to war crime probes over the Gaza conflict.
If the Palestinians were to sign the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, the court would have jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories. An investigation could then examine events as far back as mid-2002.
| Hamas pushes this knowing that their friends at the ICC won't ever allow Israel to bring a charge against Hamas... |
Israel and Hamas have traded allegations of war crimes and both defend their military operations as consistent with international law. 
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Posted by Steve White 2014-08-24 00:00||
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