Word: cairo
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...Israeli envoy Amos Gilad returned from Cairo on Thursday night to brief Olmert and his Defense and Foreign Ministers about Hamas' response to the Egyptian truce proposals. Israeli officials claim that Hamas may be willing to drop two previous demands: that Israel withdraw its troops from Gaza before Hamas stops firing its rockets into Israel and that Hamas control the Gaza border crossings with Israel and Egypt. These sources say Hamas has agreed that the Gaza crossings be manned by a force loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival supported by Israel and the U.S. So far, Olmert...
...Israeli bombardments and fighting in Gaza pushed the reported Palestinian death toll above 1,000 on Wednesday, negotiators for Hamas, the Islamic militants who rule Gaza and are firing rockets into Israel, showed signs of softening their defiance to Egypt's attempt to broker a ceasefire. In Cairo, a Hamas spokesman appeared more conciliatory toward the Egyptian peace plan and said that the Islamist leadership, both in Gaza and in Damascus, would be studying the latest Egyptian proposal, whose contents have yet to be disclosed. One Hamas source told TIME, "We've moved a step forward...
...Hamas leader speaking in Cairo, Salah Bardaweel, insists that the Islamists aren't budging from their initial demands: "We will accept nothing less than a ceasefire, the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and the lifting of the [18-month long] Israeli siege on Gaza." It isn't clear yet how close the Egyptian proposal mirrored Hamas' demands for a cease-fire in the 19 day-old conflict. When the assault started, Palestinians accused Egypt of catering to Israel (Cairo had just played host to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni). The Hamas source commented pessimistically, "We're 100% sure...
Israel is holding back on its assault into Gaza City while diplomats in Cairo try to work out a proposal to close off the Egypt-Gaza border so that Hamas can no longer smuggle weapons in through tunnels. If Egypt agrees, Israel may not need to mesh its cease-fire demands with Hamas'. What worries Israel is the likelihood that Hamas will continue to bring long-range rockets into Gaza that can strike terror in southern Israel. If Egypt can guarantee that Israel will be safe from rockets, the Israelis say their tanks will roll out of the Gaza Strip...
...Hamas is just as adamant. Its four delegates returned from Cairo to Damascus and their Gaza bunkers resolved to fight on. Israel says it has identified at least 200 Hamas members who have been killed thus far, but a Hamas official in Damascus told TIME, "So far we have only lost 60 martyrs. We're prepared to lose many more." Advancing Israeli troops have had to thread through complicated Hamas defenses of roadside bombs and booby-trapped houses, and they are using robots to clear Hamas' maze of tunnels...