Rockets prompt Israel to call off Gaza talks

Rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on Tuesday afternoon, causing the Israeli military to resume its bombing campaign there and temporarily ending talks in Cairo meant to agree a long-term truce between the two sides.

Israel said it was pulling its negotiating team out of indirect talks with the Palestinians sponsored by Egypt, shortly after three rockets fired from Gaza at about 4pm local time struck southern Israel near Beer Sheva. No injuries or damage were reported.

None of Gaza’s militant factions claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, which ended a 24-hour ceasefire extension due to expire at midnight, following a five-day pause in fighting intended to allow negotiations on an end to hostilities. Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesperson, said on Tuesday afternoon that the group had “no information” about rockets fired from Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and Moshe Ya’alon, defence minister, ordered the Israel Defence Forces to respond to the rocket fire. Israeli air strikes were reported in parts of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza; east of Gaza City; and east of Khan Younis in the south. Gaza health officials said that two children were injured in an air strike east of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Israel’s withdrawal of its delegation from Cairo dimmed hopes that an agreement to end the fighting and ease the Israeli blockade on Gaza might be near. “The moment the ceasefire is violated, there is no basis for the talks,” an Israeli official said.

Fighting between the two sides has largely calmed since August 4, when Israel withdrew its ground forces to the Israeli border with Gaza after completing an operation intended to destroy Hamas’ tunnels.

However, the talks in Cairo have gone slowly, with both sides dug into their respective positions. Israel has accused Hamas of repeatedly violating ceasefires by allowing rocket fire during the talks.
Hamas and other Palestinian factions want Israel to lift its economic blockade of Gaza, free prisoners jailed by Israel in the lead-up to the war, and allow the construction of a seaport and airport – popular demands that would allow the territory to rebuild after a war that has killed more than 2,000 people and caused widespread destruction.

Israel is resisting any relaxation of trade that it says might allow Hamas or other militant factions to rearm or claim victory in the war.

On Monday evening, as the ceasefire was extended another day, a spokesperson for Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second-largest militant faction, warned the talks in Cairo were at risk of collapse because of Israel’s refusal to make concessions.

“Israel is seeking to break the confidence between Palestinians and the Egyptian mediators by refusing to make any concessions,” Khaled al-Batsh said in remarks quoted by the Ma’an news service.

The truce agreement taking shape in Cairo, if it is ever approved, would take effect in two stages, the first of which would see both sides commit to stopping hostilities, a Palestinian official said.
The second would see Israel and the Palestinians discuss issues related to the rebuilding and economic rehabilitation of Gaza, including the possible building of a seaport and airport.
Donors have backed Palestinian factions in calling for a lifting of the Israeli blockade.

Norway, which will co-host with Egypt a donors’ conference to rebuild Gaza, said this week that the territory’s “borders must be opened” to allow people and goods to pass, and fishermen and farmers should be allowed to go about their jobs.

“Gaza cannot be simply rebuilt in the same way as it has been before,” Borge Brende, Norway’s foreign minister, said. “The international community cannot necessarily be expected to contribute to yet another reconstruction effort.”

Pierre Krähenbühl, commissioner-general of the UN agency UNRWA, said on Tuesday that a “new deal” was needed for Gaza as it rebuilt after Israel’s third military operation since 2009. “Gaza must have its freedom: freedom of access, freedom of movement, freedom to import and export, freedom from aid dependency,” he said.