Israeli negotiators arrive in Cairo for truce talks

Israeli soldiers leaving the Gaza Strip seen near the border between Israel and the Hamas-controlled coastal area, Aug. 4, 2014. (Flash90)

Marcy Oster, JTA

JERUSALEM — Israeli negotiators arrived in Cairo for talks on a permanent truce with Palestinian factions in Gaza, after a 72-hour cease fire remained in place.

The cease-fire began at midnight on Monday morning. Israeli negotiators left for Cairo later on Monday morning. Just minutes before the cease-fire went into effect, a powerful long-range missile was fired at Tel Aviv. No Code Red siren was heard.

The Israeli negotiating team is made up of Amos Gilad, a senior defense official; Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen; Yitzhak Molcho, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s representative; Maj.-Gen. Nimrod Sheffer, the head of the IDF’s Planning Directorate; and Yoav Mordechai, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, according to Army Radio.

Israeli negotiators had left Cairo at the end of the previous cease-fire, when Palestinian factions began firing rockets at southern Israel, saying they would not negotiate under fire.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio Monday that if there is no diplomatic solution to the current conflict, “I am convinced that sooner or later we will have to opt for a military solution of taking temporary control of Gaza to demilitarize it again.”

Hamas officials have told media in Cairo that if an agreement is not reached during this cease-fire, the Palestinian delegation will quit the negotiations for good.

The Palestinians’ main demand is for both Israel and Egypt to lift the blockade on border crossings and to allow a free-flow of goods and people into the coastal strip.