Updated: Wed Jan. 07 2009 5:55:42 PM

CTV.ca News Staff

Egypt's UN Ambassador says that Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, have agreed to meet in Cairo Thursday to discuss the Gaza crisis.

The ambassador says the parties involved have agreed to send a technical delegation to Cairo to discuss the French-Egyptian initiative to stop the fighting in Gaza.

The plan's details are unclear at this time, but the initiative calls for a limited ceasefire in Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to flow into the area.

The news comes after fighting restarted in Gaza Wednesday after a brief halt in the violence to allow in humanitarian aid.

Israel has said it will only agree to a ceasefire if Hamas stops its rockets attacks, while Hamas has demanded Israel end its blockade of border crossings that has made fuel and food scarce in the territory.

Nearly two weeks of fighting have left more than 660 people dead in the Gaza Strip. The United Nations estimates as many as 25 per cent are civilians, while local Palestinian groups say it's even higher, but no one has specific numbers.

In Paris Wednesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said both Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank had accepted the truce proposal.

Israel government spokesman Mark Regev told BBC News that his country has agreed "on the principles" of the plan but that the challenge now was to work out the details.

In an earlier interview with CTV's Canada AM, Regev said Israel wants a sustainable solution that will benefit both Israelis and Palestinians so that the combat can "finish sooner rather than later."

"The two vital ingredients for that sustainable peace are the total absence of hostile fire from Gaza into Israel... and the second point, not less important, is that Hamas won't be allowed to rearm," Regev said from Jerusalem on Wednesday.

He said if Hamas is allowed to re-arm then the situation will go "back to square one" and a similar crisis like the current one will happen again in a few months.

"We have to make sure that there's an arms embargo that's internationally supported," Regev said.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the plan calls for an immediate ceasefire by both sides for a limited period to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The plan also would include an urgent meeting between Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss how to prevent further military action and to deal with the root of the conflict.

In Turkey, a diplomat said Wednesday that country would be responsible for putting together an international force for Gaza.

Temporary ceasefire

Aside from today's temporary ceasefire, Regev said Israel will be imposing a stoppage of military action "continually" over the next few days.

"There wasn't a shortage of supplies inside the Strip because we've had the crossings open everyday and scores of semi-trailers have been going in with food and medicine," he said.

"There was a problem inside the Gaza Strip that supplies were in storehouses and they weren't getting out because of the difficult combat situations.

"By providing this humanitarian window we're allowing for the distribution of these supplies to the people who need them -- which is what we want."

Iyad Nasr, with the International Red Cross, painted a very different picture from inside Gaza Wednesday.

"The aid that has been brought into Gaza... (is) hardly sufficient to cope with the crisis and to handle the emergency situation on the ground," Nasr told CTV Newsnet.

Nasr said aid groups are working to the maximum "to prevent a full breakdown of the system."

Of those civilians killed in Gaza, at least 130 are children age 16 and under, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

"What is going on, on the ground, does not need three hours or three days, it needs a full stop of violence that is affecting civilians," Nasr said.

Nasr said more than 30 to 40 per cent of casualties are women and children. He also said 70 per cent of Gazans do not have access to portable water and even if water is available there is no electricity to pump it up to buildings.

Nasr said mothers are risking their safety to stand in line for some bread because food is so scarce.

With files from The Associated Press

Comments are now closed for this story

Bill from Whitby
I think this is a no win situation for anybody.......God help the civilians.

Stop the killing for good!
It's simply wrong to keep on killing innocent people.


There is no good and bad side on this one, they are both wrong and people are beeing killed for nothing.

This war will solved nothing you need to sit down, talk and make concessions on both sides.

These people have been at war for so long and they will nerver be a winning side just a lot of blood on their hands.

montreal
it should not be a cease-fire only for 3 hours, it should stop completely, its enough there will be no win in any side !!!

and its really sad 670 killed 200 children, for us Canadians its more sad that our PM takes a side!!!!!

Darlene in Halifax
It is easy to say they need to negotiate, but when one party is fundamentally unwilling to accept anything less than the absolute destruction of the other party, there is no possible way to negotiate a truce. Hamas exists to destroy Israel - they refuse to accept their existence. How do you negotiate that?

On another note, I have been finding it really interesting how alot of these posters are condemning Israel for blockading Gaza. Yet when I look at a map, I see Gaza borders with Egypt as well. Why is Egypt not allowing humanitarian aid to cross their border with Gaza? Why is Egypt not being condemned as well?

George from Quebec
This is a tragedy for innocent people on both sides of the border. This war is not as one sided as most people would believe.

We now know that Hamas is comprised of cowards who use women and kids as shields as they fire rocket after rocket from mosques, schoolyards and homes.

As long as Hamas keeps firing rockets at Israeli citizens who have nothing to do with this conflict, Israeli soldiers will continue to retiliate and eliminate the source of this malaise.

At this point, I don't see Hamas worrying that their actions are causing the massive death count of innocent Palastinians.

Richard L. Provencher
Why do people living in Gaza continue to support Hamas, even though their military is embedded in civilian areas, which mean civilian casualties? And how can peace take place with Hamas who continue to vow they wish to eliminate all of Israel? Pray for peace.

Roger T
Isreal shouldn't impose a time frame, it should keep up the targets on Hamas. The aid will only fall into the hands of Hamas which will be distributed againsts Hamas loyalist. If Hamas is cloaked behind being civilians than Isreal should close off the border completely and restrict all access in or out of Gaza perm. Dis-band the root of cause and put it to rest as the situation will only arise again and again.

MHB
To Darlene in Halifax: The Egyptian government is a puppet of the US. The Gaza border with Egypt is closed against humanitarian aid because the US wants it to be closed. This essentially means that Israel wants it to be closed. Egypt is ruled by a brutal dictator who gets his power from the US. The Egyptain people have been demonstrating now for almost two weeks demanding the opening of the border crossing. Thousands were brutalized by the Egyptian security forces, arrested and detained.

FN
I think many people don't even know what the fight is about anymore. It's been 60 years since the beginning of the war. It seems that it's just in their blood now...

Israel has to give some and Palestine has to give some. It they don't ever sit down and get this overwith, locations of borders, etc., this will NEVER stop.

If both sides cared about civilians (especially innocent children that by no fault of their own were born in the middle of a war zone) this would not have continued for so long. This war has been going on twice as long as I've lived.

It's sad how little consencus there is. The West supports Israel and the Middle East supports Palestine.

Is there no country that will condem both for acts of war and support both equally to achieve Peace?

Saladin
To George from Quebec: "Hamas is comprised of cowards who use women and kids as shields as they fire rocket after rocket from mosques, schoolyards and homes". Hmmm!. Actually most armed liberation movements throughout history were protected by their own civillians. I found it problematic to describe the Hamas people as cowards (you may call them terrorists i you want to). Who is actually more brave, a Hamas fighter who has primitive weapons and fighting a way more equipped power and knows that he is likely to die or the Israeli soldiers hiding inside their tanks and fighting a much weaker power?. In the past, knights used to face each other in an equivalent battles and the word "brave" had some meaning. This is not the case anymore in modern wars!.

Eleanor
A few years ago I wrote these
thoughts in a journal. Seemed
like a good time to share them

Tears for Mankind


We as mankind are all united by 195 common threads

These threads woven together

Create this beautiful diverse tapestry,

This wondrous awesome planet,*Earth*

My most fervent hope is one day,

we will open our hearts and our minds to serious heartfelt communications,
We will rid our minds of the facade

of religious and ethnic back grounds,

Realize we are all just simply human beings

All trying to survive on the same planet,

We will join hands in *peace and harmony*

In the final analysis, as someone once said

We are all in the same Boat

We shall either row to a peaceful shore

Or sink into a sea of war and despair.

Joey
I believe both sides are equally wrong and right, one side fighting for the security of their people the other for mere survival.

I suspect we'll be seeing more bloodshed over the next century for i dont see either side laying down arms.People will always suffer at the cost of ignorance. The only way i see things ever getting better is if the Israeli government invests more time and money into its military operations where civilian casualties would be minimal.

Alex (Toronto)
This is a smart move by Israel. Reducing the humanitarian disaster will reduce diplomatic pressure on Israel to end its operation immediately; that in turn will put more pressure on Hamas to back down.

Hamas has not been allowed to function as a government, leaving their only option as ongoing resistance. If Gaza has open air, sea, and land borders (at lease with Egypt), it will acquire an interest in the status quo which will discourage future conflict.

The history of Israel and many other states shows that security does not bring peace, but that peace can bring security. Israel must come to understand that its desire to acquire territory from Arab Palestine is in direct conflict with its real need for safe towns and safe borders. Hopefully the new American administration will be able to begin a rational dialog between the parties in the region.

kate
Hamas was democratically elected by the people, like it or not. They were also initially supported and encouraged by Israel when it was fighting Fatah - now it's flipped sides and suddenly it's former ally is labelled a terrorist. Stop building settlements and give back the stolen land and then maybe rockets will stop being fired. But most of all stop lying and playing victim when you are the agressor - then maybe there can be some dialogue.

Doug BC
A cease fire won't work until both sides agree that further vilence will not lead to a resolution of the dispute.
Hamas represents some of the Palestinians,but not enough of them to be ablew to speak for all of them.An agreement with Hamas is not necessarily going to be enforceable.And there is no way Israel can sit back quietly while rockets are lobbed into their country.
Perhaps,just perhaps,the UN could monitor some kind of a truce.But to me,it looks like countries like Syria and Iran,to name just a couple,are quite certain that Israel should be wiped off the map.As long as they maintain that position,I see no resolution.

Jason H.
Religion served us well for as long as we needed it, but conflicts like this will only be resolved if our species turns away from make-believe and accepts a secular humanist approach to life. We all have one life to live, and each is as valuable as the next, regardless of our ridiculous political or religious beliefs. Only by working together for mutual understanding and tolerance can we ensure that everyone has the right to a happy, peaceful life.

These comments make me laugh. God help the civilians? Pray for peace? Stop praying and DO something.

Joel Bain
Anyone who says that the two need to stop fighting and negotiate is naive and unaware of the complexity of the conflict. There is far more personal history and hatred between the two parties than a simple conflict between neighbors.

Neither party trusts each other, so neither is willing to make a risky concession to the other (ie. Hamas will not agree to not re-arm, Israel will not open the borders completely. Hamas will fear that they will be taken advantage and simply placed in a helpless situation, while Israel will fear that by opening the borders, it will only allow a stronger, more militant Hamas to engage in operations, thus becoming a more dangerous threat to Israelis).

This is NOT a situation where the two parties can simply be told to simply talk about it and get along. Reconciliation is mandatory.

AndyL
This conflict has been going on for milliniums and not for 60 years, as many people think. Also people, war is war and civilians will die, deal with it. With that said cease fires in this conflict have only been temporary respits and do not work. The conflict needs to be resolved once and for all. That will only happen when either one side is reduced to a submisive position or no longer exist. These savages (on both sides) have been fighting for too long and create too many problems for the international community. Enough is enough, let them fight until one wins, regardless of the cost.

Greg in the Hammer
The origins of this conflict go back at least to the failure of the west to enact the Balfour Declaration jof the 1920's which called for the creation of a Jewish state after WWI.

The subsquent continued persecution of Jews throughout the world, the Holocaust, and the exodus of Jews from
Europe to what would become Israel in 1947 has laid the foundation for this dispute.

However. Israel is the only functioning democracy in this part of the world. Israel pulled out of Gaza. What happened? The rocket attacks increased.

The Palestinian people need to shed themselves of the support for violent behaviour of groups like Hamas and embrace peaceful means of stating their position.

Dale - Edmonton
The comments by the UN Relief and Works agency claiming there were no militants in the area is obvious nonsense...this is why the UN cannot be trusted in situations like this...the folks on the ground have a vested interest in supporting one side or another...did ANYONE think he was going to come even close to saying that militants were present? Of course not - if he had, he might as well pack up and move on to another assignment because he would have been considered expendable by Hamas.

Mike B
Israel has effectively put the Gaza Strip under siege. Play this campaign out like a siege.

Israel is in a position to end this now, on terms that ironically lay the groundwork for a lasting peace.

Offer Hamas a 'truce' that allows 'humanitarian aid' to enter the Gaza Strip with one condition.

Hamas is to leave all areas occupied by non-combatants, proceed to designated open ground, lay down their arms and walk away.

If Hamas is pleading for 'humanitarian aid,' it means they have lost and are buying time.

If Hamas truly cares for the people they 'govern,' this is the way to humanely save the civilian Gaza Strip population and themselves.

If Hamas refuses the condition, then Israel needs to proceed and cleanse the Gaza Strip of those who make undeclared war on Israel.

Then the world will see the true nature of Hamas and how it cares for the people it ostensibly 'governs.'

Israel is within her rights as a recognized nation state to take all necessary means - no matter how distasteful they are to the liberal West - to protect her national and territorial integrity.

Erwin
This is first and formost a proxy war. On the one side are the Muslim countries that want Israel destroyed and are quite happy keeping the Palistinians in destitute poverty so they will be willing to fight, having nothing to lose. On the other side are the western countries who want Israel to continue to exist. In the end, the locals are only players in a bigger battle.

Jim in the West
I was criticized in a previous blog on this story for being opposed to humanitarian aid for Gaza - something that I'm still opposed to. Part of that criticism stated that I had no idea what I was talking about.

For the record, I served with the 75th (the PPCLI) here in Canada. Every generation before me for 600yrs - according to the genealogical records my grandmother has assembled - has served in the military, so I believe that I do know what I am talking about.

My family lived through the bombing of London. We lost relatives at Coventry, and had a cousin that flew in the retaliatory bombing of Dresden. I know that wars are fought by people - not soldiers, and that war ends when people on one side or the other accept defeat and surrender.

Israel and the Hamas are in a fight to the finish - a real, old-fashioned, bloody war. Either the Hamas breaks the Israeli people or Israel breaks the Palestinian people supporting the Hamas. Supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza is as foolish as supplying humanitarian to those in any part of Germany during WWII. It will only prolong the conflict, prolonging the suffering, and lead to more dead.

I for one would truly love to live long enough to see REAL peace in the Mideast. Unfortunately, as long as we keep prolonging the conflicts over there, none of the parties involved have any real need to find a solution, or to end the conflict.

Daniel from Saskatoon
Both Hamas and Israel must ease up on civilian casualties! However, the prospect of bombing military targets among civilian populations dates back to WW1. Why havn't people condemned what the USA did in Japan in WW2 with their area bombing? From what I've been seeing there is a lot of bias on this issue. You have to look at both sides as some of the commentators have. Israel has been shelled by Hamas rockets for years. Yes, Israel might be doing more damage than what they need too. But how do you think the Israelis feel about rockets being launched over their borders?

Wouldn't you want your government act to protect you. Their is the same reaction in Gaza. When so many civilians are killed the population demmands protection. Even if is from a terrorist group. They may not believe in the same principles but the radicals can protect the Gazan people. It is shameful that Hamas uses civilian people as shields. Hamas fires rockets from civilian centres expecting Israel to attack there so they can place all blame on the Israelis and gain more support from the surrounding arab nations.

The bottom line, however, is that this war needs to come to an end. I'd prefer it to end quickely with negotiations. But the issue is that Israel owns land given to it at its founding that the palestinian people believe is theirs and the Israelis believe is theirs. They will have to compromise.

This may not make any sense but I hope you understand what I'm saying.

Anne in Gatineau
I don't think either side understand the concept of peace. The unfortunate people who live in Israel and Palestine have never known peace... not in their lifetime. It would take at least two or three generations of peaceful times for things to change. It's all very sad for the children.

MHB
To Erwin: "On the one side are the Muslim countries that want Israel destroyed and are quite happy keeping the Palistinians in destitute poverty". Where did you get this genius theory from?. As far as I know, the Islamic Congress, which is an organization of ALL muslim countries, fully supports a two state solution between Israel and the Palesltinians. Also, Israel is armed with over 250 nuclear heads and any talk about the possibility of destroying Israel is utter nonsense!.

Israel's gang is getting desperate.
They don't want to fight on the ground.

So now they have to concede that Hamas is the legitimate Palestinian authority in Gaza.

That's what negotiating implies.

The world is watching.

Brad Calgary
What part of this very simple equation do most of you people not understand. The bottom line is simply that IF Hamas STOPS lobbing rockets into Israel there would be Peace. How much more simple can you get than that. THAT is ALL that Israel is asking and then there would be peace, IT IS just that simple. And for all those of you out there that don't think it is just that simple, it is actually YOU that is prolonging this insanity. Who do you think Hamas is purposely prolonging this action for? It's for YOUR sympathy and until THEY get the message that the sacrificing of their own women and children is truly repugnant they will never stop.