CAIRO
Indirect negotiations between Palestinian factions and Israel aimed at reaching a durable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have been suspended, a Palestinian negotiator has said.
"The negotiations have been suspended," Khaled al-Batsh told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
He said that the Israeli delegation to the talks had pulled out from the negotiations after refusing to meet Palestinian demands.
Israeli government officials said Tuesday that indirect negotiations with Palestinian factions for reaching a permanent ceasefire deal had broken down.
Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israeli negotiators to Egypt-hosted talks to return to Tel Aviv, shortly after the army claimed that three rockets had been fired at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip – despite a temporary ceasefire with Palestinian factions.
Israel carried out several airstrikes across the strip on Tuesday, claiming the move was a response to rockets allegedly fired from the Palestinian territory.
Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, for its part, denied any knowledge of the rocket fire, asserting that the fresh Israeli attacks sought to undermine Egypt-hosted ceasefire negotiations.
For the last ten days, Palestinian factions and Israel have been holding indirect negotiations in Cairo aimed at reaching a permanent truce.
A five-day ceasefire expired on Monday. But the two sides agreed to extend it by 24 hours as part of Egyptian efforts aimed at reaching a permanent deal.
The ceasefire came following more than a month of devastating Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, which have left more than 2000 Palestinians dead – the vast majority of them civilians – and more than 10,000 injured.
Palestinian casualties from the current offensive alone have surpassed the combined Palestinian death toll from two previous operations, including Israel's highly-destructive "Operation Cast Lead" in 2008/9.
In that operation, some 1500 Palestinians were killed – mostly civilians – over the course of three weeks, while large swathes of the strip's infrastructure was destroyed.
According to Israeli figures, at least 64 Israeli soldiers have been killed in recent ground battles with Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip – the highest military death toll for Israel of any of its three onslaughts on the territory.
Three Israeli civilians, meanwhile, have been killed by rocket fire from Gaza.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – has reeled under a crippling Israeli blockade that has badly affected the local economy and played havoc with residents' livelihoods.
By Hazem Badr
www.aa.com.tr/en
