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| Palestinian children sit atop the remains of their house, which witnesses said was destroyed in the Israeli offensive, during a 72-hour truce in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Aug. 13, 2014. |
A Palestinian official described the negotiations as at a "very sensitive stage," but there was no public indication that a deal was near.
The halt in fighting is due to end as a 72-hour cease-fire expires late Wednesday (2100 UTC, 5 p.m. EDT).
If no agreement is reached, it threatens to extend a conflict that has killed more than 2,000 people, mostly
Palestinian civilians, since Israel launched an operation July 8 to stop Hamas militants from firing rockets from the Gaza Strip.
Lifting of blockades addressed
A Palestinian official with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters that Egypt had presented a new truce agreement proposal that addressed a major Palestinian demand - lifting of the Israeli and Egyptian blockades of the Gaza Strip.
Israel and Egypt harbor deep security concerns about Hamas, the dominant Islamist group in the small, Mediterranean coastal enclave, complicating any deal on easing border restrictions.
It was unclear from the official's remarks how those worries, along with Israel's demand for Gaza's demilitarization, would be dealt with.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said disarming was not an option.
Israeli spokesman Mark Regev said he hopes the cease-fire succeeds, but if not, “Israel has other options.
And if we have to use those other options, it’s better that we can say that we first of all tried a more peaceful path before we had to use the other ones.”
Israeli negotiators returned to Egypt after overnighting in Israel. Palestinian delegates and Egyptian
intelligence officials reconvened for talks that could go down to the wire.
Azzam Ahmed, an official of the mainstream Fatah party who heads the Palestinian team in Cairo, said the negotiations were at a very sensitive stage and it hoped to reach a cease-fire agreement before the current truce runs out.
Egyptian and Palestinian sources said Israel had tentatively agreed to allow some supplies into the Gaza Strip and relax curbs on the cross-border movement of people and goods, subject to certain conditions. They did not elaborate, and in Israel, officials remained silent on the state of the talks.
A Palestinian demand for a Gaza seaport and reconstruction of an airport destroyed in previous conflicts with Israel has also been a stumbling block, with the Jewish state citing security reasons for opposing their operation.
Hamas negotiator Izzat Risheq said his delegation is hoping for a positive outcome to the Cairo talks and is making every effort to achieve it.
The gaps are wide, so Egypt is proposing an interim deal to forestall a resumption of hostilities. For example, Israel would partially ease the blockade on Gaza, while negotiations continue on thornier issues, such as open borders for Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas.
Fishing limits
As part of the Egyptian blueprint, Israel would expand fishing limits it imposes on Gaza fishermen to 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the usual three-mile offshore zone.
“It will increase gradually to no less than 12 miles in coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel,” the official said, referring to a likely expanded role in Gaza affairs for the government of Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, based in areas of the West Bank not occupied by Israel.
In addition, the official said, the Egyptian plan calls for reducing the size of a “no-go” area for Palestinians on the Gaza side of the border from 300 meters (yards) to 100 meters so that local farmers can recover plots lost to security crackdowns.
A Palestinian official said the Palestinian delegation had agreed that reconstruction in Gaza should be carried out by a unity government of technocrats set up in June by Hamas and Abbas' more secular Fatah party.
Egypt as mediator
The negotiations are indirect, with Egyptian officials carrying proposals back and forth between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Hamas is part of the Palestinian delegation, but Israel considers it a terrorist group and refuses to meet with it face to face.
On Tuesday, Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas's leader in Cairo, described the negotiations as “difficult.”
An Israeli official, who declined to be identified, said no progress had been made.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, speaking on Tuesday, told Israel's armed forces to prepare for a possible resumption of fighting.
A previous 72-hour cease-fire last week expired without a longer-term deal and Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes resumed, although at lower intensity.
Israel pulled ground forces out of Gaza last week after it said the army had completed its main mission of destroying more than 30 tunnels dug by militants for cross-border ambushes.
It now wants guarantees Hamas will not use any reconstruction supplies sent into the enclave to rebuild the tunnels.
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