Mideast cease-fire faces major test
Mediators work to solidify truce after first armed exchange
Mediators work to solidify truce between Israel and Hamas after first armed exchange.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — International mediators stepped up efforts Wednesday to broker a longer-term truce between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that dominates the Gaza Strip, after the first armed exchange between the two sides since the end of an 11-day air war in May.
Egyptian and United Nations diplomats were mediating between both sides, two diplomats involved in the talks said. The effort followed a day of escalating tensions on Tuesday after the new Israeli government permitted far-right Jews to march through Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem. In response, militants in Gaza sent several incendiary balloons into Israel, causing 26 fires, and Israeli aircraft fired missiles at several military posts in Gaza early Wednesday. No casualties were reported.
The escalation was the first major test for the fragile new Israeli government that on Sunday replaced longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu after winning a confidence measure in Parliament by just one vote. Its first major decision was to allow the provocative far-right parade, a decision that angered Arab and leftwing members of the coalition.
Mediators received indications from Israel and Hamas that neither was seeking to increase conflict further, one diplomat said Wednesday. An Egyptian task force was in Gaza on Wednesday morning, clearing rubble from the war in May and trying to prepare the ground for a longer-term reconstruction effort.
But the Hamas leadership publicly did not rule out further attacks on Israel. Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior member of Hamas’ political wing, based in Qatar, said by phone that the decision would be made by the group’s military leadership.
“The issue of responding to the bombardment is on the table, but this decision is with the resistance,” Abu Marzouk said, referring to the group’s armed wing.
A deeper truce remained even more elusive, with Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian leadership in the occupied West Bank and international donors yet to agree on a mechanism to deliver aid, money and reconstruction materials to rebuild Gaza following the war in May.
“The U.N. is in contact with all relevant parties on matters related to the cessation of hostilities,” said Tor Wennesland, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process. “This has been going on for a while and will continue with the view of having some arrangements put in place that could stabilize the situation. This is still a work in progress with more to be done.”
The war in May killed over 250 Palestinians and 13 Israeli residents, according to the United Nations. In Israel, Palestinian rockets wrecked several apartments, cars and buses, damaged a gas pipeline and briefly shut down two major airports. In Gaza, Israeli strikes damaged homes, clinics, hospitals and schools, as well as power lines, sewage works and three major desalination plants, the United Nations said.
Israel and Hamas disagree on whether to include a prisoner swap as part of any stronger cease-fire deal. Israel wants Hamas to return two missing Israelis who are believed to be captive in Gaza and the remains of two Israeli soldiers also thought to be there. Hamas seeks the release of Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails.
The process is also complicated by a desire for the Palestinian Authority — which exerts limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank, and which Hamas forced from Gaza in 2007 — to play a role in coordinating any future aid.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced that it is reining in a controversial practice of conducting late-night raids of Palestinian homes in the West Bank aimed at gathering information about the houses and their inhabitants.
The military has in the past defended the practice, known as “intelligence mapping,” as a necessary measure to counter militant groups. But human rights groups say the policy served only to intimidate civilians.
Under the practice, soldiers would rouse families in the middle of the night to document the dimensions and inhabitants of homes in the occupied territory. Rights groups said the raids, conducted in homes where no one was suspected of illegal activities, served no strategic purpose and caused deep psychological trauma.
The change in policy came half a year after Yesh Din, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, and Breaking the Silence, three Israeli activist groups, published a report on what they described as “arbitrary invasions” of private Palestinian homes. They said the practice “effectively serves as a means to oppress and intimidate the Palestinian population and increase control over it.”
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. While the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority administers autonomous zones within the territory, Israel retains overall control and frequently conducts military raids even in Palestinian-controlled areas.
Associated Press contributed.