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Only Egypt can end the fighting [israel and Hamas]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3182314/posts

Analysis: Israel’s intelligence community sees Cairo as only real platform capable of influencing Hamas.

With all the chatter incessantly coming out of the mouths of experts sitting in air-conditioned television studios and offering their different solutions to the Hamas problem, it’s really hard to understand what is going on behind the scenes.

But there is one thing we can all agree on: The news about a ceasefire will come from one place only – Cairo.

The common estimate among the decision makers is that the Egyptians are the only ones who can end the fighting. The Egyptian capital serves as what the intelligence community defines as “the only real platform which has the greatest amount of influence on Hamas.”

But Cairo also has a score to settle with Hamas due to the extensive ties between the terror organization and Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. As a result, the relationship between them is filled with suspicion and hostility. Hamas sees the Egyptians as biased mediators and is convinced that the Egyptian regime is dragging its feet in a bid to let Israel continue crushing the Strip.

Israel, on the other hand, has faith in the mediation abilities of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his people. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding indirect negotiations with Hamas, and this isn’t the first time. It’s possible that at the end of the negotiations he will be asked to agree to lift the naval blockade of Gaza – a concession he might not be able to accept.

When Israel accepted the cease-fire, Turkey, in trying to insert itself in the middle, pressured Hamas to not accept. But Egypt remains the power broker here, and Israel is working with Egypt and not Turkey ...

Turkey, Qatar foiled Cairo’s cease-fire proposal [Israel and Hamas]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3181151/posts

Haaretz learned that Lieberman told Borg Brende, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is visiting Israel, that Hamas lied when it said Cairo had not sent it the cease-fire proposal, which Israel initially accepted.

He said Egyptian intelligence officials had given the details of the initiative to Mousa Abu-Marzook, head of the Hamas mission in Cairo.

Meanwhile, Israel agreed on Wednesday night to a request from Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East for UNRWA, to a five-hour cease-fire on Thursday in order to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas was ready to consider the Egyptian proposal favorably but Qatar wanted to screw the Egyptians and told them not to accept it,” Lieberman told Brende, Haaretz learned.

He said all Qatar’s moves were coordinated with Turkey and both these states are pushing Hamas leaders not to accept the Egyptian proposals.

A senior Israeli official said that Khaled Meshal, head of Hamas’ political bureau, prefers the Qatari—Turkish mediation to Egypt’s brokerage. Meshal is close both to Qatar’s emir and to Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Israel prefers Egypt as negotiator, especially due to its shaky relations with Turkey and severed relations with Qatar.

Egypt Blames Hamas for Escalation in Gaza
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3182291/posts

As Israel launched a ground operation in Gaza on Thursday, Egypt blamed Hamas - but also Israel - for the latest escalation and for the deaths of civilians.

According to Kol Yisrael radio, the Egyptian government said it was placing the responsibility on Hamas for “the possible deaths of Palestinian civilians”, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept Egypt’s proposal for a ceasefire.

The report quoted Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, as having said that had Hamas accepted the ceasefire proposal, it would have saved the lives of at least 40 Gazans who were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Shoukry further said that Hamas was cooperating with Qatar and Turkey to harm Egypt’s status in the region.

In a statement quoted by the AFP news agency, however, Egypt’s foreign ministry also denounced Israel’s “escalation” in Gaza and again demanded both sides accept a Cairo proposed truce.

“Egypt condemns the Israeli escalation in Gaza and calls for self-control as its air strikes and ground operation only aggravate the situation and do not help preserve Israel’s security,” the foreign ministry said.

It said both Israel and Hamas must “immediately and unconditionally accept the Egyptian (ceasefire) proposal as it offers protection to the Palestinian people. It is the only way to halt the aggression and preserve the blood of our brotherly Palestinian people.”

Shoukry’s comments on Hamas echo those made earlier by Egypt’s former Foreign Minister, Mohammed Al-Arabi, who said that Hamas was not serious about a ceasefire – and that the terror group was deliberately trying to embarrass Egypt.

Speaking in an interview in an Egyptian newspaper, Al-Arabi blamed Hamas for not only failing to come to a ceasefire, but for “shedding the blood of innocent Palestinians” by continuing to attack Israel.

Egyptians Hoping Israel Will Destroy Hamas
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3181177/posts

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi has thus far turned down appeals from Palestinians and other Arabs to work toward achieving a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinian Authority [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas telephoned Sisi and urged him to intervene to achieve an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas. Abbas later admitted that his appeal to Sisi and (other Arab leaders) had fallen on deaf ears.

Sisi’s decision not to intervene in the current crisis did not come as a surprise. In fact, Sisi and many Egyptians seem to be delighted that Hamas is being badly hurt.

Some Egyptians are even openly expressing hope that Israel will completely destroy Hamas, which they regard as the “armed branch of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization.”

Sisi’s Egypt has not forgiven Hamas for its alliance with Muslim Brotherhood and its involvement in terrorist attacks against Egyptian civilians and soldiers over the past year.

The Egyptians today understand that Hamas and other radical Islamist groups pose a serious threat to their national security. That is why the Egyptian authorities have, over the past year, been taking tough security measures not only against Hamas, but also the entire population of the Gaza Strip.