Israel is poised to agree to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal with Hamas, despite the deal not including any assurances regarding the release of captured solder Gilad Shalit and an end to arms smuggling over the Egyptian border.
The deal will put on hold the plans to launch a large-scale raid on the Gaza Strip. Under the agreement reached by Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman, who over the last two weeks met Palestinian representatives and the Israeli leadership, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah will all cease firing rockets into Israel, while the IDF will in turn refrain from attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in his Gaza City office
Israel has refused Hamas demands to link IDF operations in the West Bank to quiet in Gaza. Israel has given in on two main demands: that the deal include an assurance that Corporal Gilad Shalit, captured in a cross-border raid almost two years ago, would be released; and that Hamas would not use the ceasefire to continue smuggling arms through the Egyptian border and build up its military capabilities.
There is not expected to be a formal signing of the ceasefire, which Hamas is terming a tahadiya, a provisional cessation of violence, but Israel has agreed that if calm is maintained, the economic blockade of the Strip will gradually be eased.
