Egypt unveils initiative for Gaza ceasefire
The initiative calls on Israel to cease all hostilities in the Gaza Strip, halt any ground operations in the Gaza Strip and stop targeting civilians, according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
CAIRO
Egypt unveiled an initiative on Monday that calls on both Israel and Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip to halt all "hostilities" and reopen Gaza crossings as of Tuesday morning.
The initiative calls on Israel to cease all hostilities in the Gaza Strip, halt any ground operations in the Gaza Strip and stop targeting civilians, according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
It also calls on Gaza-based Palestinian factions to cease all hostilities against Israel, halt rocket fire and cross-border attacks and stop targeting civilians.
The Egyptian initiative also calls for reopening Gaza crossings and facilitating the movement of persons and goods through borders.
The initiative, according to the ministry statement, says that "all issues, including the issue of security, will be discussed with both sides".
According to the Foreign Ministry, the terms of the initiative will be put into effect as of 6:00 GMT on Tuesday.
Under the initiative, a ceasefire will be enforced within 12 hours since both Israel and Palestinian factions accept – "without preconditions" – the Egyptian initiative.
According to the initiative, Egypt will receive "guarantees" from both sides to abide by the understandings.
The Foreign Ministry said that Cairo will receive high-level delegations representing the Israeli government and Palestinian factions within 48 hours for talks on consolidating the ceasefire and building confidence between the two sides.
Tension has been running high in the Palestinian territories since Israel launched a deadly offensive last Monday with the stated aim of halting rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
At least 185 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1300 others injured in unrelenting Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since the operation began last Monday.
Gaza-based resistance factions, for their part, have continued to fire rockets at Israeli cities in response to the ongoing Israeli attacks.
No Israeli fatalities have been reported thus far.
In 2012, the administration of former president Mohamed Morsi – later ousted by Egypt's military – mediated a ceasefire that ended eight days of relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza, which left scores of Palestinians dead.
Under the agreement, Israel agreed to halt airstrikes on the besieged coastal strip, while Palestinian factions – led by Hamas – agreed to stop rocket fire into Israel.
By Hager al-Dosoki
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