Israel weighs unilateral halt to Gaza offensive: source
Summary:
Israel is not doing it out of the goodness of its heart, of course.
The U.S. and Israel have signed an agreement to prevent Hamas re-arming itself. Egypt would play a large part in closing down smugglers' tunnels going into Gaza.
Israel also wants to keep troops in Gaza after the halt, as an occupying force.
The IDF is continuing its claim that the invasion is justified; to prove this, it has let reporters see a supposed Hamas launch site. It has yet to co-relate the launch sites with the 86% civilian casualties in Gaza.
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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli leaders are leaning toward declaring a unilateral halt to their offensive in the Gaza Strip instead of entering into a formal, Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas, Israeli political sources said on Friday.
Such a move could deprive Hamas of political gains from a truce deal that would include the easing of Israel's blockade on the coastal enclave, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.
Israeli officials said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would convene a meeting of his security cabinet on Saturday night to decide whether to call a unilateral halt to the offensive, which has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians.
Asked on Israel's Channel 10 television if the government would act unilaterally to halt the fighting, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said: "The security cabinet will convene and that is where a decision will be made."
Livni has long advocated an informal end to the hostilities.
"If Hamas shoots, we will have to respond, and if it shoots after a period of time, we will have to mount another campaign," Livni told Channel 10. "I have said the end doesn't have to be in agreement with Hamas but rather in arrangements against Hamas."
Israeli officials said Egypt had concluded that talks with Hamas were not progressing and an agreement was unlikely. Egyptian officials were not immediately available to comment.
Cairo has proposed that Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak sign their own agreement as early as Sunday, Western officials said.
It was not immediately clear what an agreement between the three would entail. Israeli officials said Olmert would be prepared to attend if invited.
Western officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a pact between Olmert, Abbas and Mubarak could cover security arrangements for Gaza's borders. Egypt and Israel want Abbas and his forces to reassert control at key crossings.
Israel and Egypt have been negotiating new security measures along the border between Gaza and Egypt to prevent Hamas from rearming after the conflict.
In Washington on Friday, the United States and Israel signed an agreement to boost information-sharing, technical assistance and the use of various U.S. "assets" to prevent arms from getting to Hamas from air, land or sea.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is visiting the region, could take part in a signing ceremony in Cairo, Western officials said.
Palestinian officials had no immediate comment.
(Reporting by Adam Entous and Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
Fri Jan 16, 2009
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli leaders are leaning toward declaring a unilateral halt to their offensive in the Gaza Strip instead of entering into a formal, Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas, Israeli political sources said on Friday.
Such a move could deprive Hamas of political gains from a truce deal that would include the easing of Israel’s blockade on the coastal enclave, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.
Israeli officials said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would convene a meeting of his security cabinet on Saturday night to decide whether to call a unilateral halt to the offensive, which has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians.
JERUSALEM — Israel on Monday banned Arab political parties from running in next month’s parliamentary elections, drawing accusations of racism by an Arab lawmaker who said he would challenge the decision in the country’s Supreme Court.
The ruling by parliament’s Central Election Committee reflected the heightened tensions between Israel’s Jewish majority and Arab minority caused by Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip. Arabs have held a series of demonstrations against the offensive.
Parliament spokesman Giora Pordes said the election committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of the motion, accusing the country’s Arab parties of incitement, supporting terrorist groups and refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Arab lawmakers have traveled to some of Israel’s staunchest enemies, including Lebanon and Syria.
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