Update: Cairo cease-fire extension aborted, air raids on Gaza

A 24-hour extension of the five-day long cease-fire agreement that was reached on Tuesday morning in Cairo was aborted after Israeli warplanes launched several air raids on the Gaza Strip later on Tuesday, according to Agence France Press.

Israeli F-16 aircrafts fired a missile at agricultural land in Beit Lahiya, north of the Strip, as well as other air strikes on Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, Khan Younis town and Rafah in the southern part of the Strip.

The air strikes, which have left eight injured so far, allegedly targeted what an IDF statement referred to as “terrorist locations.” The statement added that they were in response to three rockets fired earlier from Gaza to Beersheba in southern Israel during the cease-fire period.

Israel ordered the delegation joining cease-fire talks in Cairo to return to Tel Aviv, according to Israeli officials.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri denied possessing any information on the rockets launched from Gaza, adding that the Israeli raids aim at aborting the Cairo negotiations. 

Israel had previously accepted an Egyptian-brokered agreement to extend the five-day cease-fire in the war on Gaza by an additional 24 hours for negotiations to continue. The five-day cease-fire was due to lapse on Monday night. 

Meanwhile, Azzam al-Ahmed, the Fatah member who has been taking part in the Palestinian negotiation team in Cairo, was quoted by the Palestinian Embassy in Egypt as saying that after a 12-hour meeting on Monday, the discussions were not concluded due to "maneuvers by the Israeli delegation that circumvented any move forward."

Ahmed added that there was no progress on any of the Palestinian demands and that there are “hidden hands” trying to ruin Egypt's mediation attempts. 

Within the extended 24-hour cease-fire, "it's either we agree or disagree," Ahmed had said, adding that every minute in these 24 hours should be used or else violence would return. 

On Saturday, some Palestinian media reported Hamas political bureau member Ezzat al-Rashq saying that the conditions proposed by Egypt for a permanent cease-fire were not accepted by the Palestinian side.

A key point in the proposal Egypt was brokering for a permanent cease-fire includes the easing of the Israeli blockade in Gaza by opening the crossing between Israel and Gaza according to a set of regulations.

Other points include managing Gaza’s financial needs through coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Israel’s buffer zone in north and east Gaza would be manned by Palestinian Authority security forces by January 2015.

Meanwhile, the fishing area allocated to Palestinians in Gaza would increase to six nautical miles and gradually to 12. The rebuilding of Gaza’s infrastructure also features among the highlights of the proposal.

Later negotiations were planned to resume over other Palestinian demands, such as a prisoner swap, as well as making the Gaza sea and airport operational, according to the Oslo Accords.

The latter demand has been a site of contention, particularly given Israel has conditioned the re-opening of ports on the full disarmament of Hamas and other factions.

Meanwhile, Palestinian media also reported the Palestinian rejection of the postponement of some agreement terms until a permanent cease-fire is reached.

Israel’s deadly Protective Edge Operation in Gaza began on July 8 and has claimed nearly 2,000 lives so far.