Azzam al-Ahmad, who heads the Palestinian delegation at the Cairo talks, tells AFP he is quietly optimistic that an agreement for a longer-term truce could be reached.
“We have high hopes of reaching an agreement very soon, before the end of the truce, and perhaps even, very quickly, for a permanent ceasefire,” he says.
But Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri struck a hardline, insisting that there can be no return to peace without a lifting of Israel’s blockade, which it imposed together with Egypt in large part to prevent Hamas from importng weapons, after it violently seized control in 2007.
“We can reach an agreement if the Israeli side accepts all the demands of the unified Palestinian delegation, in particular the end of any aggression against our people, the war on Gaza and the complete lifting of the siege,” Abu Zuhri said.
Israel has spoken little in public about the negotiations.
The five-day truce is set to end Monday night.
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