A source in the Gaza Strip with direct knowledge of the matter has provided The Electronic Intifada with a copy of Hamas\u2019 five demands for a ceasefire with Israel, amid ongoing mediation efforts that involve Turkey, Qatar and Germany.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama confirmed intense US-backed diplomatic efforts by Egypt to achieve a ceasefire.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the tenth day of Israel\u2019s relentless bombardment of Gaza,\u00a023 Palestinians, including eight children,\u00a0were killed.<\/p>\n
Since the start of the assault, 220 Palestinians have been slaughtered and more than 1,500 injured, the vast majority civilians.<\/p>\n
Israel announced that it would observe a \u201chumanitarian truce\u201d for five hours on Thursday morning to allow residents and humanitarian agencies to restock supplies.<\/p>\n
The text of the Hamas conditions, provided to The Electronic Intifada in Arabic, is as follows:<\/p>\n
\nFirst \u2013 Opening all the crossing with the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
Second \u2013 Opening Rafah crossing, the link between Gaza and Egypt, on a permanent basis, 24 hours per day with international guarantees it will not be closed.<\/p>\n
Third \u2013 A maritime corridor to Gaza.<\/p>\n
Fourth \u2013 Allowing residents of the Gaza Strip to pray in the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Fifth \u2013 Israel will release the prisoners who were freed as part of the \u201cShalit\u201d deal, and Israel will abide by the previous agreement reached by prisoners and the Israel Prison Service with Egyptian mediation in 2012.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
These demands, albeit refined, are in line with earlier\u00a0public statements\u00a0Hamas has made about its terms.<\/p>\n
Earlier today, Israeli media published a more expansive\u00a0ten-point plan for a ten-year trucethat was said to have been passed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to Egyptian officials.<\/p>\n
Obama confirms intense efforts<\/h2>\n
At a White House\u00a0press briefing\u00a0this afternoon, Obama reiterated his position that Israel\u2019s bombardment of Gaza constitutes an exercise of Israel\u2019s \u201cright to defend itself\u201d from rockets fired from Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut over the past two weeks,\u201d Obama added, \u201cwe\u2019ve all been heartbroken by the violence, especially the death and injury of so many innocent civilians in Gaza, men, women and children who were caught in the crossfire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obama\u2019s misleading statement ignores the findings of, among others,\u00a0Human Rights Watch\u00a0and the\u00a0United Nations\u00a0that Palestinian civilians, civilian homes and other infrastructure have been deliberately targeted in Israeli attacks, a war crime.<\/p>\n
Obama also blamed Hamas for rejecting a unilateral Israeli truce yesterday, announced by Egypt, which\u00a0many Palestinians saw as a ploy\u00a0to give Israel a pretext for further escalation without meeting minimal demands to ease the\u00a0siege of Gaza.<\/p>\n
Hamas said it had learned about the Egyptian truce plan through the media and had never been consulted. Trust between Egypt and Hamas is at an all-time low since the military overthrew Egypt\u2019s first democratically-elected president a year ago.<\/p>\n
Egyptian media loyal to the current regime\u00a0have echoed Israeli propaganda\u00a0against Hamas, while Egypt has kept the\u00a0Rafah crossing\u00a0closed.<\/p>\n
But Obama confirmed intense efforts to achieve a ceasefire.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Israeli people and the Palestinian people don\u2019t want to live like this. They deserve to live in peace, security and free from fear. That\u2019s why we\u2019re going to continue to encourage diplomatic efforts to restore the ceasefire and we support Egypt\u2019s continued efforts to bring this about,\u201d Obama said. \u201cOver the next twenty-four hours we\u2019ll continue to stay in contact with our friends and parties in the region and we will use all of our diplomatic resources and relationships to support efforts of closing a deal on a ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n