Israelis, Palestinians poised to resume Cairo talks

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are poised to resume indirect talks tomorrow with Egyptian mediators on reaching a more permanent ceasefire before a current truce expires at midnight on Monday.

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 today marked 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, 64 of them soldiers.

Israel says 750-1,000 of the dead on the Gazan side are Hamas and other gunmen. It also blames Hamas for all civilian fatalities, since Hamas set up its rocket-launchers, tunnel openings and other elements of its war machine in Gaza neighborhoods and uses Gazans as “human shields.”

Eleven of Israel’s soldiers were killed by Hamas gunmen emerging from cross-border tunnels dug under the Israeli border.

Hamas has fired over 3,000 rockets at Israel, including some 600 from close to schools, mosques and other civilian facilities, the Israeli army says.

— AFP, Times of Israel staff