Israel-Hamas war, Day 29A 72-hour cease-fire to go into effect this morning
Both Israel and the Palestinian delegation to Cairo, which includes Hamas representatives, have accepted an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour cease-fire to begin at 08:00 Middle East time (02:00 EST) today (Tuesday).
This is the same proposal Egypt put forth two weeks ago, which Israel had accepted but which was rejected by Hamas. It is not clear whether the cease-fire will go into effect, or will go into effect and then violated. Six earlier humanitarian cease-fires were violated by Hamas within minutes of going into effect. Israel, in the meantime, has concluded the destruction of thirty-one Hamas tunnels which reached inside Israel. Hamas was planning to use the tunnels for a Mumbai-like simultaneous, coordinated attack on Israeli kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip for the purpose of killing Israeli civilians – possibly hundreds of them – and capturing scores to be brought back into Gaza to be used as bargaining chips to extract concessions from Israel.
Both Israel and the Palestinian delegation to Cairo, which includes Hamas representatives, have accepted an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour cease-fire to begin at 08:00 Middle East time (02:00 EST) today (Tuesday).
This is the same proposal Egypt put forth two weeks ago, which Israel had accepted but which was rejected by Hamas. Secretary of State John Kerry then tried to formulate an alternative cease-fire proposal in consultation with two of Hamas supporters, Qatar and Turkey, but that proposal not only undermined the Egyptian proposal, but favored some of Hamas’s more extravagant demands to such an extent that Israel and the Palestinian Authority rejected it out of hand.
It is not clear whether the cease-fire will go into effect, or will go into effect and then violated. Six earlier humanitarian cease-fires were violated by Hamas within minutes of going into effect.
The New York Times reports that Israel, in the meantime, has concluded the destruction of thirty-one Hamas tunnels which reached inside Israel. Hamas was planning to use the tunnels for a Mumbai-like simultaneous, coordinated attack on Israeli kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip for the purpose of killing Israeli civilians – possibly hundreds of them – and capturing scores to be brought back into Gaza to be used as bargaining chips to extract concessions from Israel.
The 2008 Mumbai attacks were a series of twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai. The ten attackers were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmiri Islamist organization based in Pakistan. The Pakistani military intelligence service, ISI, helped train the terrorists, equip them, and choose the targets. The terrorists were in phone contact with ISI officers while the attacks were unfolding. The attacks began on Wednesday, 26 November and lasted until Saturday, 29 November 2008. In all, 164 people were killed and 308 wounded.
Israel said that even after the withdrawal of the army from the Gaza Strip back into Israel, the army, and especially the air force, will respond forcefully to attacks and rocket fire by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
After Hamas violated last Friday’s cease-fire within an hour of it going into effect, Israel said it would act unilaterally from now on, because Hamas proved itself to be utterly untrustworthy. Israeli officials said, though, that they appreciated Egypt’s efforts and were willing to accept the Egyptian proposal, as Israel did two weeks ago.
