From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Diplomacy bogged by web of regional rivalries
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleIntensive diplomatic efforts are continuing to bring the sides close to a ceasefire. After a flurry of reports, quickly denied, earlier Thursday indicating the sides had reached an agreement, Channel 2 news reports the sides are still far from coming together, partially hampered by a web of regional rivalries.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas, in Cairo for talks, has been mediating between Egypt and Hamas, since the Gazan terror group refuses to speak to Cairo. In the meantime, Israel refuses to speak to Hamas, making the diplomatic channel more like a game of telephone.
Channel 2 also says Abbas wants Israel to free the final, fourth group of security prisoners — who were supposed to be freed at the end of March as part of the US-brokered peace talks — as part of a ceasefire deal. This group includes Israeli Arabs, whom Israel refused to free at the time, as it sought and failed to get a commitment from Abbas that the peace talks would continue past April.
Meanwhile, Israel is making clear to US Secretary of State John Kerry that his mediation efforts are not needed. An unnamed source tells the news outlet that Israel thinks Kerry may have undermined Egyptian peace efforts by speaking about Hamas’s preferred Turkey-Qatar diplomatic channel.
The Times of Israel Community.