Israel’s Ministerial Security Cabinet met on Sunday for five hours regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip. IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot briefed the Ministers on the current situation and told them that the IDF is ready for any possibility. No decisions were reached during the elongated meeting and the Ministers were not asked to ratify Israel’s proposed part in the agreement proposed by the United Nations the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov.

Egyptian intelligence and military have also been attempting to broker a peace between Israel and Hamas who runs the Gaza Strip. The meeting ended with a pessimistic tone and numerous ministers and media outlets noted that the chance for a long-term resolution with Hamas is very low. Hamas demands the return of a large number of terrorists, many of whom have blood on their hands directly, in return for the opening of talks to discuss the return of the bodies of Israeli soldiers and an Israeli citizen, all of whom are being detained by Hamas currently. Israel refuses to release terrorists with blood on their hands and is making any agreement conditional upon the return of Israeli citizens and the bodies of its soldiers.

Abbas is also stirring the pot by not allowing salary increases to workers in the Strip, a and has come out strongly against Egyptian cease-fire proposals, something which is making the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, far less interested in accepting them. As Abu Mazen refuses to spend money in the strip, thus preventing the purchasing power of the average Palestinian in the Strip from rising, the only area where some sort of agreement can be reached would be a possible cease-fire in which Israel would demand that Hamas cease all launching of bombs and incendiary devices and in return, Israel would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing and allow fishermen to fish off the shore of the Strip.

The Cabinet believes that Hamas would not be satisfied with such an agreement for long, therefore, the IDF must be ready for all eventualities.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)