Hamas under pressure to accept immediate ceasefire in Gaza

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/18/hamas-pressure-ceasefire-gaza

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Hamas is under increasing pressure from multiple international sources to accept an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after the French and Italian foreign ministers flew to Cairo – where negotiations have centred – to back Egypt's call for a prompt de-escalation in the conflict.

Before meeting the ministers at Cairo airport, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, held talks with representatives of Hamas and another Gaza-based group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a failed attempt to get them to agree to a truce.

From Cairo, Abbas flew to Istanbul to ask the Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan – who has better relations with Hamas – to try to persuade the group to accept a ceasefire, said Abbas's envoy to Cairo, Gamal Shobky.

"I hope there will be an agreement today – maybe Turkey and Qatar [another Hamas ally] will have something," Shobky said. "We need this quickly to stop Palestinian blood."

By refusing to agree to a ceasefire, Hamas has cut an increasingly isolated figure. Foreign diplomats including Tony Blair have placed the onus on Hamas to accept a ceasefire without any pre-conditions – instead of it pressing Israel for the two key concessions it has demanded as a precursor to any de-escalation.

"The objective is to convince all the Palestinian factions to accept the ceasefire," said one western diplomat, summarising the focus of international pressure.

The Arab League has backed Egypt's call for a quick ceasefire for several days, and Egypt's foreign minister, Sameh Shukri, issued an unusually harsh criticism of Hamas's stance even as Israeli troops crossed the border into Gaza.

"If Hamas had accepted the Egyptian proposal, it could save the lives of at least 40 Palestinians," Shukri told Egypt's state-run news agency, embodying how Egypt's opposition to Hamas has become almost as entrenched as Israel's.

Egypt has promised that the leaders of all concerned parties can come immediately to Cairo to start formal talks about Gaza – but only once a ceasefire is agreed. But Hamas is still refusing to agree to a ceasefire unless certain concessions are made in advance – namely the easing of Gaza's blockade by both Israel and Egypt, and the release of a group of Palestinians jailed in Israel.

Shobky said: "These are the two key issues – the prisoners, which Israel refused, and the opening of the borders, especially at Rafah [on the border with Egypt], and to allow for more movement on the sea, and to return farmland to Gaza."

A Cairo-based diplomat said Egypt's and Israel's reluctance to agree to these concessions had only strengthened Hamas's resolve to hold out while it still had leverage. "The main thing is that they want is to be a part of the process. But what is happening is that one side is trying to dictate a proposal to the other side."

The ceasefire agreement that followed previous hostilities in Gaza in 2012 brought Hamas little tangible benefit, even though it was brokered by Egypt's then president, Mohamed Morsi, a Hamas ally. Now Morsi is in jail and Egypt's new government sees Hamas as a threat to national security, claiming the group has helped militants based in Egypt's Sinai desert.

Egypt has banned Hamas inside its borders, placed many of its members on trial in absentia and blocked almost all of the 1,200 tunnels that smugglers once used to bring crucial supplies – and weapons – to Gaza from Egypt. As a result, Hamas feels that Egypt is increasing acting in step with Israel, and feels it is unlikely to uphold promises that even Morsi's government could not keep.

For its part, Egypt's approach to Gaza needs to satisfy two extremes. The international community expects Egypt to maintain its historical role in brokering a speedy ceasefire to a conflict, the latest outbreak of which has now killed more than 270 Palestinians – including scores of children – and two Israelis. But parts of Egypt's domestic audience, normally sympathetic to Gaza, want their government to take a tough stance against Hamas, which in some quarters has been conflated with the Gaza Strip itself.

"I'm sorry, people of Gaza, I'm not going to sympathise with you until you get rid of Hamas's gang," wrote Adel Naaman in a column for al-Watan, a private Egyptian newspaper, on Friday. "I'm not going to stand with you unless you get rid of those who turned the country into a funeral marquee."