Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo to discuss ways of reaching a ceasefire with a view to ending Israel's ongoing onslaught on the Gaza Strip, now in its second week, an Anadolu Agency reporter has learned.
At a closed meeting with al-Sisi in Cairo's Ittihadiya presidential palace, Abbas – who arrived in Cairo one day earlier – reiterated his support for an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, according to a source close to the meeting.
On Monday, Egypt proposed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Gaza-based resistance factions, to come into effect on Tuesday at 6am GMT.
Cairo's initiative called on Israel to cease all hostilities in the Gaza Strip, halt all ground operations and refrain from targeting civilians, according to an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement.
It also called on Palestinian resistance factions to cease hostilities against Israel, halt rocket fire and cross-border attacks and stop targeting civilians.
The overture further calls for reopening Gaza's closed border crossings and facilitating the movement of persons and goods in and out of the embattled coastal strip, "once the security situation becomes stable on the ground."
Israel initially accepted the ceasefire on Tuesday before resuming its air campaign hours later, citing the failure of Hamas and Islamic Jihad – two leading Palestinian resistance groups – to respond positively to Egypt's initiative.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad both rejected the Egyptian proposal, with the latter saying the terms of the deal failed to meet the basic aspirations of the Palestinian people and conditions set by the Palestinian resistance.
At least 231 Palestinians – mostly civilians – have been killed so far in unrelenting Israeli airstrikes, while more than 1700 have been injured, many seriously.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rockets at Israel – some of which have reached Tel Aviv – in response to the deadly air offensive.
Since hostilities began early last week, one Israeli has been killed as a result of rocket fire from Gaza.
By Meselhi Gomaa
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
