Israeli, Palestinian negotiators ready to resume Cairo talks
18 Aug 2014 5:31 AM IST
The Egyptian government persuaded both sides late Wednesday to adhere to a new five-day ceasefire, extending an earlier three-day agreement in order to allow more time to thrash out a longer-term truce.
It got off to a rocky start with Palestinian rocket attacks and retaliatory Israeli air strikes, but on Sunday was a sixth day of quiet following more than a month of fighting that has killed more than 1,960 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams are now expected back in Cairo for fresh talks, which the Palestinians said would begin tomorrow, after consulting their political leaders over the weekend. The European Union welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza and said it was ready to expand a police mission in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and train Palestinian Authority customs personnel and police for redeployment in Gaza.
‘A return to the status quo prior to the latest conflict is not an option,’ said the Council of the EU yesterday following a foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
It got off to a rocky start with Palestinian rocket attacks and retaliatory Israeli air strikes, but on Sunday was a sixth day of quiet following more than a month of fighting that has killed more than 1,960 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams are now expected back in Cairo for fresh talks, which the Palestinians said would begin tomorrow, after consulting their political leaders over the weekend. The European Union welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza and said it was ready to expand a police mission in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and train Palestinian Authority customs personnel and police for redeployment in Gaza.
‘A return to the status quo prior to the latest conflict is not an option,’ said the Council of the EU yesterday following a foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
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