Senior Hamas officials have told "CNN" that a ceasefire with Israel could be happening very soon, "Imminent, possibly within 24 hours." This follows international pressure on both sides to end the latest round of fighting. Earlier yesterday, deputy head of Hamas political bureau Mousa Abu Marzook said that he expected a ceasefire to be achieved within a day or two. He told Al Maydan that Israel was begging for a ceasefire and there had been talks to reach arrangements but Hamas had not been prepared to meet the terms.
Abu Marzook was talking on the tenth day of Operation Guardian of the Walls with Israel continuing its precision bombing raids on the Gaza Strip and Hamas continuing to fire rockets into southern Israel and the southern coastal strip.
Abu Marzook said, "From the start we have made clear that if they bomb us we will bomb them. If they escalate, we will escalate. We have one issue and one address - Jerusalem, and we are doing this for Al Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah."
He said that the mediators had asked, "Hamas to halt its fire three hours before Israel and we did not agree to this. Israel cannot fight on several fronts and at the same time within. Hell can develop and therefore Israel is worried."
With ongoing talks for a ceasefire, heavy rocket barrages were fired through the night until 1 am at the towns and villages near Israel's Gaza Strip border but there has been no firing since then. Sirens also sounded in the first part of the night in Beersheva, Hatzerim and Ofakim. There were no reports of Israeli casualties except for two people lightly injured while running to shelters. Yesterday a 72 year-old man sustained medium injuries when a building in Sderot was hit.
Minister of Defense Benny Gantz met with the most senior officers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) yesterday to discuss achievements during the campaign and measures needed for the day after any ceasefire. Gantz approved the targets in Gaza for the coming few days. An IDF source said that there were still important missions that needed completing in terms of destroying tunnels and the terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip.
Senior Ministry of Defense officials do not believe that there will be a ceasefire over the next 24 hours, despite the international pressure but they do expect talks with the assistance of mediators to remain on track over the next 48 hours. Israel will reportedly demand long-term quiet and not the old equation of 'quiet for quiet that lasts a minute.'
The IDF is taking a pragmatic approach to matters and feels that arrangements must be put in place after the ceasefire to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Some defense sources want the transfer of responsibility for rehabilitating the Gaza Strip to be handed to the Palestinian Authority in order to strengthen its status.
At the same time, Ministry of Defense sources do not rule out that Hamas wants a longer, more drawn out campaign - a scenario in which the two sides will continue attacking each other for some time to come. This takes into account that Hamas does not have full control of the Gaza Strip and that its political leaders like Ismayil Haniyah and Khaled Mashal reside abroad in Qatar. Therefore the IDF is also prepared for a long-term operation.
Since the start of Operation Guardian of the Walls, 12 Israelis have been killed by rocket fire. According to Palestinian sources 227 Palestinians have been killed including 63 children, 36 women and 16 elderly, while 1,620 have been wounded.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 20, 2021
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