Ceasefire’s longevity in hands of Egyptians

CAIRO // One week on from Israel’s unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, Egypt today hosts a Hamas delegation for talks in an effort to shore up the fragile calm, after hosting Israeli defence officials on Thursday, though there are doubts as to what it can achieve as a mediator.

“They will have discussions with the Egyptian authorities to try to end the [Israeli] blockade and open the crossing points, including the Rafah terminal” on the Egyptian border, said Fawzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman.

The six-member Gaza delegation will be joined by representatives of Hamas’s Damascus-based leadership in exile, according to an Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman, Hossam Zaki.

Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s intelligence chief and pointman for Palestinian-Israeli affairs, had met with a senior Israeli defence official, Amos Gilad, on Thursday to discuss extending the ceasefire.

This was Mr Gilad’s third visit to Egypt since the war on Gaza started on Dec 27. Last year, he led Israel’s side in talks that led to a six-month Egyptian-brokered truce with Hamas that expired on Dec 19.

Israel and Hamas have observed their own ceasefires since last Sunday when Israel ended Operation Cast Lead, which left about 1,330 Palestinians dead and more than 5,500 wounded, according to Gaza doctors, as well as large-scale destruction to Gaza’s infrastructure.

Egypt is trying to secure a durable ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the reopening of Gaza’s border crossings, followed by Palestinian reconciliation talks.

Hamas threatened to resume fighting if Israel does not reopen the crossings and Israel has warned it will strike again if Hamas is allowed to rearm.

Egypt, a key US ally and an Arab regional heavyweight with a 30-year peace deal with Israel, has long been considered as an indispensable mediator between Israel and the Palestinians because of close, sometimes strained, ties to both sides.

However, its role has been questioned after it failed to get a truce between Israel and Hamas that expired last month renewed and its peace initiative during the three-week war failed to bring about a new ceasefire. Moreover, it has not been able to reconcile bickering Palestinian groups despite attempts last year.

One of the crises of the regime of the president, Hosni Mubarak, “is that it has become addicted to the mediator role”, Medhat el Zahed, a columnist with the Egyptian leftist daily Al Badeel, wrote on Friday.

“Mediation is neither Egypt’s destiny nor role, but they have become addicted to it, considering it to be a divine blessing.

“The mediator has to be neutral and have integrity. Egypt shouldn’t pressure Hamas to reinforce the truce. This is its business and Hamas is accountable only to its people.”

Fahmi Howeidi, a political commentator, said the Egyptian government had been dealing with Hamas as an extension of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which was the wrong approach.

“Egypt is failing to deal with Hamas as a resistance movement and an elected government. This is limiting the Egyptian role.

Israel and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding on Jan 16 aimed at stopping the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip. Britain, France and Germany have offered to send warships to help in the effort.

The US-Israel deal outlines a framework under which the United States would provide detection and surveillance equipment as well as logistical assistance to Israel, Egypt and other countries to be used in monitoring Gaza’s land and sea borders.

Mr Mubarak and Egypt’s foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, reacted angrily and said the country would not be bound by the agreement.

Egypt denied reports it had signed a new security agreement with Israel to increase security and stop smuggling into the Gaza Strip from Egypt.

The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, the defence minister, Ehud Barak, and the foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, approved new security arrangements at a cabinet meeting late on Thursday after talks with Mr Gilad in Cairo to address the issue. The Israeli cabinet measures include the creation of possible checkpoints in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, as well as moves to prevent smuggling boats from docking at Port Said.

“Egypt mans its borders by itself and doesn’t want to violate that by any agreement,” said Mr Zaki, Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesman.

Salah al Bardawil, the head of the Hamas delegation to Cairo, told Al Jazeera he knows nothing about such an agreement and had only heard about it from the media.

Egypt’s official news agency, Mena, reported that Hamas will discuss three main issues while in Egypt: shoring up the ceasefire, the fate of the Israeli Cpl Gilad Shalit, who was captured by militants in Gaza in June 2006, and reconciliation among the Palestinian factions. Mr Aboul Gheit said recently Egypt knows nothing about the soldier’s fate.

Egypt has angered many Arabs by enforcing an Israeli blockade on Hamas-run Gaza by refusing to open the Gaza-Egypt border to ordinary traffic out of concerns that Israel will burden Egypt with responsibility for the densely populated strip.

“The Egyptian leadership managed to maintain its temper and wisdom throughout the acute Gaza crisis,” Abdel Moneim Saeed, a senior politician with the ruling NDP, said.

“After all the noise, smoke and blood, Egypt is again dealing with the crisis in a way to salvage the Palestinian people and keep their rights, without violating Egypt’s national security.

“Only Egypt is capable of doing that, of playing the indispensable diplomatic role, not on TV stations or comedy theatres, like others, but by having ties with Israel and open channels with Hamas – despite [Hamas’s] criticism of the Egyptian leadership – as well contacts with Arab and influential forces in the world. That’s why everyone comes back to Egypt again and again.”

Egypt has also announced it will host a conference for Gaza reconstruction next month.