Hamas Objects To Cease-Fire Applying To Hamas

Cairo, July 15 – Israel’s cabinet voted to accept an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire with Hamas this morning, but the Gaza-based militant organization has yet to endorse the agreement, protesting that the terms of the truce should only apply to Israel.

Since Israel began Operation Protective Edge eight days ago, international mediators have rushed to broker a cease-fire and prevent further bloodshed. Nearly 200 Gazans have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and as a result of Hamas positioning themselves among civilians, while Hamas and other Palestinian groups have fired rockets all over Israel from Gaza, causing injuries, damage, and disrupting life. Massive casualties and damage were averted only through Israel’s Iron Dome interception system. In the view of Hamas, any cease-fire agreement should include terms under which Israel ceases targeting Hamas positions, weapons storage and manufacturing facilities, while Hamas remains free to use them without facing airstrikes to eliminate those positions.

“Any agreement that does not allow the continuation of the resistance is no agreement,” said Hamas spokesman Mahder Fakr. “We demand the lifting of the Zionist blockade, the release of all prisoners, and the ability to kill Jews unimpeded.” International attempts to mediate the overall conflict have focused on tweaking the parameters of the first two demands while leaving the third untouched.

The agreement calls for negotiations to begin 48 hours after the truce takes effect, which it would do at 9 in the morning Tuesday local time, but experts are divided on whether the cease-fire will take hold, and if it does, how long it will last. “I can’t see Hamas agreeing to stop being Hamas,” says Pesi Myst of the Interdisciplinary Center in the Israeli city of Herzliya, a think tank. “They will probably try to hold out for a truce that will allow them to keep killing.”

Naif Gross of Haaretz disagrees. “Once Israel makes concessions, the Palestinians always become forgiving and generous,” he said. “For example, after Israel dismantled its communities in the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Palestinians stopped shelling those settlements.” He expects peace to break out at any moment if Israel simply accedes to an arrangement under which Hamas is given discretion over who gets to fire what and at whom.