Palestinians accept new 72-hour cease-fire proposal by Egypt

CAIRO (AP) -- Palestinian negotiators in Cairo say they have accepted an Egyptian proposal for a new, three-day cease-fire with Israel.

The decision aims to clear the way for renewed negotiations with Israel on a long-term truce arrangement in the Gaza Strip.

The officials, representing various Palestinian factions, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive negotiations.

Israel walked away from negotiations over the weekend after rocket fire resumed, saying it would not negotiate under fire.

Heavy fighting between Israel and Gaza militants has killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, as well as 67 people on the Israeli side.

Hamas had refused to extend a temporary truce that helped launch the Cairo talks last week, saying it wants guarantees from Israel first that Gaza's borders will open. Israel and Egypt have enforced the blockade, to varying degrees, since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007.

Since the truce expired Friday, smaller Gaza militant groups - though not Hamas, according to claims of responsibility - have fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells at Israel, including two on Sunday.

"If Hamas thinks it has worn us down, it is wrong," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said. "We will return to the table only after an end to the fire. ... We are not intending to compromise."

The diplomatic standoff, coupled with the ongoing cross-border attacks, signaled that a broader deal for battered Gaza, as envisioned by the international community, likely will remain elusive.

Israel has said it will not open Gaza's borders unless militant groups, including Hamas, disarm. Hamas has said handing over its weapons arsenal, which is believed to include several thousand remaining rockets, is inconceivable.

Various ideas have been raised to end Gaza's isolation, including deploying international inspectors at all crossings to address Israeli security concerns about smuggling weapons and militants. Europe has floated the idea of a link between ports in Gaza and Cyprus, with inspectors at both ends checking people and cargo.

Palestinian officials have said that Israel has so far rejected such proposals.

Instead, one proposal circulated by the Egyptian mediators over the weekend offered an easing of some of the restrictions, according to Palestinian negotiators who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss internal deliberations with journalists. It was not clear if this was an Egyptian or an Israeli proposal.

Palestinian negotiators said they rejected the ideas, insisting on a complete end to the blockade. The Palestinian team includes Hamas officials and representatives of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, from whom Hamas took Gaza in 2007.

On Sunday, Palestinian negotiators vented their frustration about the lack of progress and the absence of the Israeli team.

Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the delegation and a confidant of Abbas, said the Palestinian team would leave Sunday evening if it becomes apparent that the Israeli counterparts will not return.

"If it is proven to us that the Israeli delegation is setting conditions for its return to Cairo, we will not accept any condition for the continuation of the talks," he said.

Palestinian negotiator Bassam Salhi, who represents a small PLO faction, said the team met late Saturday with Egyptian mediators. In the meeting, the Palestinians were told that Egypt is in touch with Israeli officials and hopes to make progress, Salhi said.

"We told the Egyptians that if the Israelis are not coming and if there is no significant development, we are leaving today," he said Sunday.

Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Gaza war erupted on July 8, following weeks of escalating tensions between Israel and Hamas.

Israel launched an air campaign on the coastal territory, sending in ground troops nine days later to target rocket launchers and cross-border tunnels built by Hamas for attacks inside Israel.

Israel has targeted close to 5,000 sites, the army has said, while Gaza militants have fired more than 3,000 rockets into Israel.

On Sunday, Israeli aircraft hit about 20 targets, the army said.

Gaza officials said a 14-year-old boy was killed and four people were wounded in an Israeli airstrike in the central town of Deir al Balah. One woman was killed and eight family members were wounded in a strike on a home in the southern town of Bani Suheila, and a man was killed in a separate strike, on a house in the Jebaliya refugee camp, they said.

Navy gunboats fired at the Gaza fishing port, and fire erupted in the building where fishermen store their equipment, police said.

Gaza's civilians, especially children, have paid a steep price.

Of more than 1,900 people killed, at least 450 were children, according to Palestinian health officials. Children also made up almost one-third of close to 10,000 wounded. More than 10,000 homes have been destroyed, leaving some 65,000 people homeless, according to U.N. estimates. Tens of thousands fled fighting in the border areas, including heavy Israeli tank shelling, and are staying in crowded U.N. shelters.

In the West Bank, vandals torched a car Sunday in the Palestinian village of Kafr Yasuf and sprayed Hebrew graffiti that read "price tag," Israeli police said. The phrase is commonly used by a small group of mostly teenage Jewish extremists in attacks on Palestinians or their property. Such acts have been widely condemned by Israeli leaders.

© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.