Negotiations to end the Gaza conflict -- already at risk amid the second day of renewed fighting after the end of a truce -- looked further endangered Sunday as the Palestinian delegation said it would walk away if Israel does not participate.
However, Israel said it would not return to the talks in Cairo so long as it was under attack. The warning came as Palestinian armed groups renewed firing rockets at Israel for a second day.
Israeli aircraft bombed 29 targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, a military spokeswoman said in Tel Aviv. That compared to nine rockets fired by Palestinian militants at Israel, bringing the total to more than 100 since the truce ended Friday evening. Israeli jets have struck 120 targets in Gaza in the past two days, the military said.
A 35-year-old woman was killed Sunday and a number of family members injured when a house was bombed east of Khan Younis. A 13-year-old girl died of wounds sustained when a house was targeted in Rafah. Some 16 Palestinians have died since armed hostilities resumed. On Saturday evening, an Israeli airstrike upon a car in the southern town of Rafah killed two Palestinians and wounded two Saturday, medics and witnesses said.
Azzam al-Ahmad, who heads the Palestinian delegation, in Cairo called upon Israel to return without preconditions to the Egyptian-mediated negotiations for a long-term truce. He warned the Palestinian delegation would quit Cairo for “consultations” in Ramallah if the Israeli team stayed away.
The Palestinian delegation met with Egypt’s intelligence establishment Sunday morning to discuss the latest developments.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not negotiate as long as the rocket attacks continued.
“Operation Protective Edge continues,” he said in Tel Aviv. “It will go on until its goal is achieved -- to restore calm for a long period of time. Israel will not negotiate under fire.” “If Hamas thinks it will wear us out, it’s wrong,” added Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon.
Hamas’s spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the chances of success of the negotiations in Cairo “very small.” He blamed Israel for their impasse because it refuses to meet Palestinian conditions, including agreement upon a sea- and airport in Gaza. Israel does not want to be seen as offering rewards for rocket attacks.
Israel would be “very foolish” if it continued with this behaviour, warned Abu Zuhri, warning that Israel would be “fully responsible for the failure of the talks in Cairo” and its consequences.
Netanyahu lost the battle and the “loser” cannot dictate or impose any preconditions, he said. “Our people will not yield to the Israeli stupidity.” The Gaza death toll after more than a month of fighting has topped 1,900, including 449 children, 243 women and 87 elderly men, al-Qedra said. An estimated 10,000 have been wounded.
Sixty-four Israeli soldiers, two Israeli civilians and a Thai national have also been killed, and hundreds wounded.
Israel launched the offensive on July 8 to seek to end years of rocket attacks from the enclave into Israel. Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, has not claimed responsibility for rockets fired since Friday, after the 72-hour truce ended. But the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC)’s Nasser Brigades, affiliated with Hamas, has claimed credit, as have the Islamic Jihad’s Quds Brigades and the armed wings of other smaller factions.