MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti) - Israel authorities do not plan to send a delegation to Egypt’s Cairo to negotiate on truce with the Gaza Strip, Israeli news source Haaretz reported Saturday, citing a military source.
A military official also said that Israel will consider the ceasefire only after a containment system against attacks from the Gaza Strip will be implemented.
"If we feel that deterrence has been achieved we'll leave the Strip based on the principle of calm for calm," a senior official said. "If we feel deterrence has not yet been achieved, we'll continue the operation in the Gaza Strip, or leave and press on with aerial strikes," a senior military official was quted by the paper as saying.
Earlier on Saturday, Agence France-Presse reported that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Sissi called Cairo’s peace plan a real chance to put an end to the military conflict in the Gaza Strip.
In July, Cairo proposed a peace initiative, calling for a ceasefire followed by negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Tel Aviv accepted the draft deal but after long discussions Hamas rejected it.
Hostilities resumed in the Gaza Strip earlier on Friday, hours after the US/UN-backed ceasefire supposed to last three days was announced.
The Israeli Army resumed the operation following the attacks by two Hamas militants, who killed two Israeli officers and perhaps took the third captive. Palestinian doctors reported 185 casualties, calling the past 24 hours the bloodiest over the four weeks of operation.
Operation Protective Edge was launched by Israel on July 8 to put an end to rocket fire from Gaza. On July 17, the Israeli Army switched to a ground assault largely aimed at locating and destroying rocket launchers and underground tunnels. More than 1,400 Palestinians and nearly 60 Israelis have been killed since the offensive began.
