JERUSALEM (JTA) — Negotiators for Israel and Hamas are holding separate talks with Egyptian mediators to iron out the details of last week’s cease-fire.
The talks began Monday in Cairo. The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect last week, ending eight days of Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense against Gaza.
Six Israelis, four of them civilians, and 167 Palestinians, both terrorists and civilians, were killed during the operation.
More than 1,500 rockets were fired at Israel by terror organizations in Gaza during the operation, and Israel said it bombed more than 1,000 terror targets in the coastal strip.
Among the topics to be negotiated are loosening the restrictions on people and goods traveling to and from Gaza, as well as putting a halt to arms smuggling into Gaza, according to reports.
Israeli and Hamas sources would not comment on the parallel negotiations, according to The New York Times. Israel does not negotiate directly with Hamas, which it has designated a terror group.
Gazan farmers and demonstrators have been testing the limits of the cease-fire, entering a no-go zone that Israel established near the border. A Palestinian man was killed Nov. 23 when he approached the border fence with Israel.
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