GAZA CITY
Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have called on Egypt to host a fresh round of indirect talks between them and Israeli negotiators.
"Egypt must pressure the Israeli government to end to its repeated aggression against the Gaza Strip," Khaled al-Batash, leading member of the Islamic Jihad movement, told reporters following a meeting with representatives of Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.
Egypt, a traditional mediator between Palestinians and Israelis, has yet to set a new date for the resumption of indirect talks, which it began hosting this summer between Palestinian factions and Israeli negotiators.
Egyptian authorities suspended the indirect talks following a deadly attack in late October on Egyptian troops in the Sinai Peninsula near the border with Gaza and Israel.
On Wednesday, Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, said one of its fighters had been killed in southern Gaza by Israeli artillery fire.
The Israeli army, for its part, said the artillery fire was in response to a sniper attack on army personnel patrolling the border that had injured a soldier.
"Israel has violated the negotiations which have been sponsored by Egypt," al-Batash said.
After signing an August 26 cease-fire deal in Cairo, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators agreed to return to the Egyptian capital to discuss several pending issues, including proposals for establishing an airport and seaport in Gaza and the lifting of an eight-year-long Israeli blockade on the coastal strip.
The cease-fire was reached on August 26 following 51 days of unrelenting Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which left more than 2,160 Palestinians dead and some 11,000 injured.
At least 73 Israelis – 68 soldiers and five civilians – were also killed during the offensive, according to Israeli figures.
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