JERUSALEM
Israeli officials and leaders from the Palestinian faction Hamas on Saturday sounded a note of pessimism on the prospects of talks in the Egyptian capital Cairo on a long-term ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The website of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted an Israeli minister as talking about the possibility that negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis would falter, bringing the two sides back to the calm-for-calm formula as far as the Gaza Strip is concerned.
The Palestinians and the Israelis are due to resume indirect talks on a long-term ceasefire in Gaza in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Sunday.
The talks follow more than a month of Israeli attacks on the Palestinian territory, attacks that had left 1961 Palestinians dead and more than 10,000 others injured.
About 64 Israeli troops were also killed in Gaza combat, while three civilians were killed by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
The residents of Gaza now enjoy a five-day ceasefire that was reached on Wednesday, but fear is rife that indirect talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis in Cairo would take the two sides nowhere near peace.
The Israeli minister said his country's delegation would go back to Cairo to resume talks with the Palestinian delegation on Sunday, only one day before the five-day ceasefire in Gaza comes to an end.
Another Israeli official, meanwhile, told the Israeli portal Walla that chances for reaching a durable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Monday are very minimal.
The official said while the Palestinians and the Israelis talk about progress in the indirect Cairo talks, both of them hold tightly onto their positions, refusing to demonstrate any flexibility or reach a common ground.
He added that this is one reason why the Israeli government thinks of taking the unilateral move of easing some of the restrictions it imposes on Gaza and allowing funds in for the reconstruction of the Palestinian territory.
Israeli officials refuse to talk about talk about the Cairo talks. Israel's minor security cabinet convened late on Thursday and early on Friday, but it did not issue a statement about the meeting.
A Hamas leader, meanwhile, said the offers made by Israel during the Cairo talks are far from Palestinian demands.
Osama Hamdan, Hamas' foreign relations chief, called on Israel on his Twitter account to succumb to the conditions of the Palestinian people or "face a long war of attrition".
By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout
www.aa.com.tr/en
