Israel meeting with Hamas in Cairo, reports suggest

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum denied ‘direct or indirect’ talks Israel has been holding secret negotiations with Hamas in Cairo, according to Israeli Channel 2 News. Reports suggest that Egyptian-mediated talks have recommenced following a ceasefire deal brokered by President Mohammed Morsi’s government last November.
Channel 2 has claimed an Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo on Thursday to hold talks with Hamas, with the help of Egyptian mediators.
Issues discussed included reportedly easing the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, opening up the passage for the transfer of commercial goods, agricultural tools and construction materials.
Arab media sources have meanwhile claimed officials would focus on Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons, following Friday’s West Bank protest outside Ofer prison and the much-publicised case of detainee Sammer Issawi.
One Hamas official confirmed the meetings taking place in Cairo, adding that their purpose was to ease the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum meanwhile denied “direct or indirect talks” were underway on Saturday.
Barhoum, speaking in a press release published on his Facebook page, claimed that talks only represented a “follow up” after November’s ceasefire talks.
The weekend’s meetings were mired by Hamas complaints that the Egyptian government had continued its vowed campaign to flood tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
Egypt’s military have been pumping water into the underground tunnels for over a week.
“Cairo is determined to eliminate the tunnels once and for all,” an Egyptian security source told Arabstoday. “The tunnels are simply a means of trade. They have nothing to do with alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
Military officials confirmed over 225 tunnels still ran between Gaza and Egypt in the Rafah region. Media reports meanwhile claimed at least 1,200.
Hamas has condemned the Egyptian campaign as “a renewal of the blockade” imposed on the coastal region by Israel, calling on authorities to stop flooding tunnels at once.
Eyewitnesses have reported seeing Egyptian forces dig wells along the border, filling them with water through large hoses.