Egypt's efforts to broker a long-term cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have come to a grinding halt, Arab media reported Tuesday.
Cairo has been trying to mediate a truce between Israel and the terrorist group that controls the coastal enclave for the past several weeks, in an effort to prevent the recent flare-up in hostilities – the worst in four years – from escalating into a full-fledged war.
Israel and Hamas have fought three wars over the past decade, in 2008, 2012 and 2014.
Egyptian intelligence officials were able to broker a truce between the parties some two weeks ago, after a round of violence that saw Hamas terrorists fire nearly 200 rockets at Israel's south and the Israeli military pound Hamas assets in Gaza in response.
While the tenuous cease-fire seems to be holding, officials on both sides expressed concern that with the long-term truce overtures deadlocked, the most recent lull will collapse as well.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has reportedly informed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the negotiations for a deal in Gaza have stalled.
The Palestinian leader recently admitted Ramallah was actively trying to torpedo these efforts, which also sought to outline an agreement that would pave the way for Gaza's reconstruction and an eventual prisoner swap.
Abbas has repeatedly said that Gaza's rulers have no authority to hold any kind of talks, direct or indirect, with Israel.
Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the EU, U.S., Israel and several other countries, ousted Abbas' Fatah-led government from the Gaza Strip in a military coup in 2007. All efforts made over the past decade to promote a reconciliation between the rival Palestinian factions – the latest brokered by Egypt in late 2017 – have failed.
A senior Ramallah source told Israel Hayom that the Egyptians were "greatly disappointed" in Abbas over his efforts to undermine any attempt to reach reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, which would be the basis for any agreement in Gaza.
Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar told Palestinian media Tuesday that no progress has been made on reaching an agreement with Israel.
"The efforts to reach an agreement have stopped. Israel is not working to break the siege unless it is under pressure," he said, referring to the maritime blockade Israel imposed on Gaza following Hamas' coup to prevent the Islamist terrorist group from smuggling weapons into the Strip.
"Unfortunately, senior Palestinian Authority officials have consulted with senior Israeli security officials in order to thwart the reconciliation efforts," he noted, referring to Abbas' recent admission that he has met with Shin Bet security agency Director Nadav Argaman multiple times.
Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told local media that Gaza's rulers "had little choice" but to agree to engage in the indirect negotiations, as the Palestinian Authority's sanctions on Gaza made the humanitarian crisis there worse.
He blamed the Palestinian Authority for the deadlock in the talks, noting that "in the absence of any alternative, the most effective solution to exert pressure on the Zionist occupation is the processions along the border."
Hamad was referring to the border riot campaign Hamas launched on March 30. The weekly riots have seen thousands of Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces. Some 150 Palestinians have been killed in the four-month campaign.
Also on Tuesday, U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov said only a true change in the humanitarian situation in Gaza can support a long-term cease-fire.
Speaking at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya's 18th World Summit on Counterterrorism, Mladenov said, "We have to work hard to maintain quiet [on the border]. There needs to be a real change for the Gazans in the economic and humanitarian fields, and the residents of the [Israeli] communities near Gaza must see a complete end to kite terrorism.
"Without this quiet, the Egyptian effort to reinstate the Palestinian Authority in Gaza will fail," he said.
