By Dean Shmuel Elmas , i24NEWS and ILH Staff—
A Lebanese newspaper affiliated with Hezbollah reported Monday that the various terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip have warned the Egyptian mediator attempting to broker a long-term ceasefire with Israel that a military conflict is closer than ever.
Sources in Hamas told Al-Akhbar that the Egyptians had asked the Gaza-based terrorist groups to refrain from any escalation until the end of this week until they received an updated response from the Israeli negotiators, which is due by mid-week.
The Israeli team is expected to present the new Israeli government stance on every aspect of the Gaza issue, including a prisoner exchange deal to recover the bodies of fallen soldiers Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, as well as captive Israelis Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.
The Egyptians also reportedly informed Hamas that as part of Egypt’s attempts to keep things quiet, talks had taken place overnight with senior Israeli government officials that had yielded “positive signals” about a possible jump-start to the negotiations process.
The Lebanese report comes after Defense Minister Benny Gantz, speaking to Channel 13 News on Sunday evening, warned that fighting between Israel and terrorist factions in the Gaza Strip could resume “at any time.”
“Gaza is a very sensitive place. We know that a strategic incident can quickly lead to a deterioration of the situation,” he said
“We are, of course, ready to act. We identify dozens of targets, we have already spotted hundreds. I absolutely do not recommend Hamas test the military capabilities of the IDF,” Gantz warned. Continue Reading…
