JERUSALEM
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has proposed to the Palestinians and the Israelis a new initiative for ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli source said early on Friday.
He added that Kerry is now waiting for the reply of both sides on the initiative.
The website of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, meanwhile, quoted an Israeli official as saying that Kerry, who would be leaving the Egyptian capital Cairo on Friday noon, is waiting for a reply from both Turkey and Qatar as far as the position of the head of Hamas' political office Khaled Meshaal on the initiative is concerned.
Kerry proposed the initiative during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv late on Wednesday, according to the source.
He said the initiative includes a weeklong ceasefire in Gaza without Israel's total pullout from the Palestinian enclave and maintaining work against Gaza's tunnels.
The official added that the weeklong ceasefire would open the door for Egypt-mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
The newspaper said the initiative would ensure disarming Hamas and destroying Gaza's tunnels in return for lifting Gaza's blockade and reconstructing the coastal enclave.
The Israeli official said when he returned to Cairo, the U.S. Secretary of State was engaged in marathon diplomacy that south to pile up international pressure on Hamas to accept the ceasefire initiative.
He said Kerry had called Qatar's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah, who maintains close ties with Meshaal who lives in the Qatari capital Doha, twice.
On July 14, Egypt proposed a ceasefire initiative in Gaza, but the initiative was turned down by Hamas, even as it was approved by the Israeli government.
Since July 7, Israel has pummeled the Gaza Strip – by air, land and sea – with the ostensible aim of halting Palestinian rocket fire.
Last week, Israel stepped up its offensive to include ground operations, sending thousands of troops into the embattled coastal enclave.
Israel's offensive has left at least 797 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, since it began more than two weeks ago,.
Israel's ongoing operation "Protective Edge" is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populated Gaza Strip, which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians, within the last six years.
In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians – the vast majority of them civilians – were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."
www.aa.com.tr/en
