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A permanent ceasefire deal will be signed in Cairo between Palestinian resistance factions and Israel within the next 24 hours, a Palestinian diplomat said Tuesday.
"The two sides almost signed the deal Monday night, but Egyptian [mediators] asked to postpone the announcement until later – Tuesday or Wednesday morning – after some details were leaked to the media," the diplomat, requesting anonymity, told Anadolu Agency.
The deal, already approved by Palestinian negotiators, entails opening all of the Gaza Strip's border crossings and allowing the reconstruction of the embattled coastal strip, the diplomat asserted.
It does not, he added, include Israel's call for disarming Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza.
Under the terms of the deal, building materials will be allowed into the Gaza Strip under international supervision, to be followed by a reconstruction process overseen by the Ramallah-based Palestinian unity government, the diplomat said.
The deal, he said, further calls for resolving the strip's chronic electricity shortage within one year and gradually increasing the area in which Gazan fishermen are allowed to ply their trade from six to 12 miles off the Gaza coast.
The deal also includes a "preliminary agreement" by Israel to "study" Palestinian demands for construction of a seaport in Gaza, according to the source.
Under the terms of the deal, Palestinian demands for the release of prisoners held by Israel – a major sticking point in the negotiations – would be postponed, the source added.
Israeli officials could not be reached for comment on the Palestinian diplomat's assertions.
However, Israel's General Radio recently announced that Israel's Political-Security Cabinet would have to vote on any draft truce deal tabled in Cairo.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators agreed on Monday evening to extend a five-day truce by 24 hours to allow them to continue holding indirect talks in the Egyptian capital.
The talks follow more than a month of devastating Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, which have left more than 2000 Palestinians dead – the vast majority of them civilians – and more than 10,000 injured.
Launched in early July, Israel's "Operation Protective Edge" is the deadliest of three Israeli military offensives to target the Gaza Strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the past six years.
The Palestinian death toll from the current offensive alone has surpassed the combined total fatalities from two past major operations, including Israel's deadly "Operation Cast Lead" in 2008/9, which killed some 1500 Palestinians over the course of three weeks.
According to Israeli figures, at least 64 Israeli soldiers have been killed in recent battles with Palestinian fighters in Gaza – the highest military death toll for Israel of any of its three onslaughts on the territory.
Three Israeli civilians, meanwhile, have been killed by rocket fire from Gaza.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has reeled under a crippling Israeli blockade that has badly affected the local economy and played havoc with residents' livelihoods.
By Eman Nassar
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en - Kahire
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