Hamas leader claims military battle won as ceasefire nears end

As the three-day Gaza ceasefire entered its last hours yesterday, the Israeli delegation to peace talks left Cairo to confer with the government of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu before responding to Palestinian demands.

Senior Hamas figure Mushir al-Masri had told a rally in Gaza City earlier that the conflict would not end until the movement’s political demands were met. “We have won the military battle,” he told the thousands who had gathered to demand an end to Israel’s siege and blockade , “and with the permission of God, we will win the political battle.”

Hamas’s arsenal had not been depleted in the 29-day conflict, he said, and warned Palestinians in southern districts not to return home unless Israel agreed to Palestinian demands.

Proximity talks are taking place at the headquarters of Egyptian intelligence in the Heliopolis quarter of Cairo. Senior Egyptian officers are conducting the mediation. Qatar and Turkey which support Hamas and were involved in earlier efforts to achieve a ceasefire, are not present in Cairo.

Palestinian arms are a major source of disagreement between the sides, with Israel calling for disarmament and the demilitarisation of Gaza. Hamas deputy politburo head Mousa Abu Marzouk, who is acting for the Palestinian delegation, dismissed the demand.

Guarantor

“Weapons of the Palestinian resistance are the sole guarantee to reaching any deal.” He also said the United States could not be the guarantor of any agreement. “The Gaza siege was [a US decision] and [US] weapons caused the destruction.”

His remarks coincided with the arrival of US acting special envoy Frank Lowenstein to support the negotiations with a view to “resolving the underlying causes of the conflict”, according to a US source.

Pressure to end the conflict was piled on the Cairo negotiating teams by head of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer who, following a visit to Gaza, expressed shock and distress over “the impact of violence on the civilian population”.

He said violations of international humanitarian law could have been committed and that the scale of civilian fatalities should not be repeated.