Cairo negotiator says Hamas won’t get seaport

Defense official Amos Gilad, who was part of Israel’s Cairo delegation, tells Channel 2 that the negotiations on some of Hamas’s larger issues will begin this month, but adds that they are likely to “drag on” and that the terror organization will not receive its seaport.

He says that during the course of the future talks, Israel will make the establishment of the seaport contingent on disarmament, which Hamas will likely reject.

In the several rounds of ceasefire talks in Egypt, Gilad says the Israeli team operated according to Israeli government instructions to ensure Hamas would not see any significant gains from its offensive. All the talks were conducted in Arabic, he says. In the end, a full ceasefire was reached and Hamas was deterred, he says.

We want to help the Palestinians, Gilad says, describing Israel’s willingness to ease the crossing restrictions and let more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Gilad says the Arab world — except for Qatar — is not supporting Hamas, and is not organizing victory rallies for the Gaza.

“Hamas did not achieve even one of its goals,” he says.