Egyptian-mediated talks are aimed at reaching a long-term arrangement
following the heaviest fighting between Israel and Hamas since the
Islamic militant group took control of Gaza in 2007.
The fighting ended in a 72-hour ceasefire last Tuesday, during which Egypt had hoped to mediate a long-term deal.
But
when the three-day window expired, militants resumed their rocket fire,
sparking Israeli reprisals. The violence continued throughout the
weekend, including a burst of fighting last night ahead of the ceasefire.
The Israeli
military reported some 30 rocket attacks out of Gaza, while Palestinian
medical officials said seven people were killed in Israeli airstrikes,
all yesterday.
Among the dead was the bodyguard of a Hamas leader, the
medical officials said.
Israel
had walked away from ceasefire talks over the weekend, after militants
resumed their rocket fire. ‘Israel will not negotiate under fire,’ prime
minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, warning that his country's military
campaign ‘will take time’.

Mohammed Ali Wahdan, from Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, lies in a bed at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City. His family sought refuge in a UN school which was then hit in airstrikes, forcing the family to flee to a house in Jabaliya Refugee Camp. On Sunday, August 3, the house was hit by Israeli missiles, killing four and injuring 11



Israeli negotiators arrived in Cairo on Monday for talks on ending the month-old Gaza war with Palestinian militants after the new 72-hour truce brokered by Egypt appeared to be holding. Pictured is Mohammed Ali Wahdan as he lies in a bed at the Al Shifa hospital, in Gaza City

Palestinian fishermen return to sea during a 72-hour ceasefire, Gaza City. A month of war has killed 1,910 Palestinians and 67 Israelis while devastating wide tracts of densely populated Gaza
Last
week's talks failed in part because Israel rejected Hamas' demand for a
complete end to the blockade.
Israel says the closure is a necessary
security measure, and officials do not want to make any concessions that
would allow Hamas to declare victory.
A
senior Palestinian negotiator acknowledged that the Palestinians would
make more modest demands this time around.
He said they will seek an end
to the bloodshed in Gaza, internationally backed efforts to rebuild and
an easing - but not an end - to the blockade.
‘We
might not get everything we want, particularly on freedom of movement.
But we believe the Israelis and the world have gotten the point that
Gazans should live normally and things should be much better than
today,’ said the negotiator.
Israel
says the blockade is needed to prevent arms smuggling and that Hamas
must disarm.
Hamas has said handing over its arsenal, which is believed
to include several thousand remaining rockets, is out of the question.

Firefighters try to extinguish fire after a cleaning materials factory was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Sunday



Palestinians stand next to a burning bus after a cleaning materials factory was hit by an Israeli airstrike
The
blockade has greatly limited the movement of Palestinians in and out of
the impoverished territory of 1.8million people for jobs and study
abroad.
It has also limited the flow of goods into Gaza, and blocked
virtually all exports.
An
Egyptian crackdown on smuggling tunnels along Gaza's southern border has
made things even tougher by robbing Hamas of its key economic pipeline
and weapons conduit.
Gaza's unemployment rate is above 50 per cent and
Hamas is unable to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of workers.
An
easing of the blockade would mean an increased role for Western-backed
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces were ousted by Hamas
seven years ago.