Hamas official says factions postpone Cairo talks on ceasefire, reconciliation
Husam Badran: Negotiations that were set to resume Monday delayed for several days
Palestinian factions have postponed talks in Cairo on a long-term ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip as well as on inter-Palestinian reconciliation, Hamas official Husam Badran said Sunday.
Badran said the talks, which had been scheduled to resume Monday, would be delayed for several says.
Badran did not give details on the reason for the postponement, though he wrote on twitter: “We are convinced that everything related to Gaza or other Palestinian issues must be managed by national consensus.”
Also on Sunday Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced that the Erez Crossing on the Gaza Strip’s northern border with Israel would reopen starting Monday, due to the “significantly reduced” number of violent incidents stemming from the Hamas-run coastal enclave.
The border crossing, which acts as the only pedestrian crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel, has been closed for the past week.
The Defense Ministry statement said the decision to reopen the crossing came “in light of the security calm that was upheld over the past week and the significantly reduced [number] of [violent] incidents.”
However, the past week has seen violent border protests and some arson kites flown into Israel.
Some 5,000 Palestinians protested last Friday along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, according to Palestinian reports. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said some 189 demonstrators were wounded in clashes with IDF troops, including 50 who were hit by live fire. The army said rioters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at troops.
Numerous reports have said Israel is in advanced talks with Hamas, via UN and Egyptian mediation, for a long-term truce in the Strip.
