Word: truce
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Pressure is mounting on Israel and Hamas to find a way to end the war in Gaza. Both sides have responded positively, if tentatively, to Egyptian proposals for a phased truce that would begin with a lull in fighting for a defined period (10 days, by some accounts). That interlude would then allow for the brokering of a more comprehensive cease-fire. But each side's goals from any truce remain antagonistic to the other's, and reaching an agreement that bridges the vast gap between them remains a herculean diplomatic challenge...
...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...
...Hamas, too, seemed out to inflict as much damage as possible on Israel before any truce. Militants fired more than 30 rockets at Israeli towns on Thursday, wounding at least five people in Beersheba, including a child...
Other Palestinian sources say that Hamas delegates were warned by the Egyptians that unless they agreed to a truce, Israel would launch a major ground assault into Gaza City, one of the most crowded places on earth, which risks raising the death toll far higher. Palestinian medical sources say that more than 300 children have died in the Gaza fighting. (See pictures of the heartbreak in the Middle East...
...next step is getting the Israelis to accept. Israeli officials say a bitter feud has erupted between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak over how long to prolong the Gaza assault. Barak says he is ready for a truce, arguing that Hamas has suffered a punishing blow from the Israeli blitzkrieg and the next step - sending troops into Gaza City's crowded streets - could raise the casualty figures far higher among Palestinian civilians and Israeli soldiers. But Olmert wants to press on until Hamas' leadership and 15,OOO to 20,000 fighters are weakened even more...