Egyptian officials are currently attempting to broker a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and although Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is optimistic, it's not clear how each sides demands will be reached.
Israeli officials told BBC that Israel's demands are as follows:
1) No hostile fire of any kind to come from Gaza into Israel including smalls arms fire at Israeli troops near the border
2) Hamas fighters must be stopped from traveling to the Sinai to carry out attacks against Israel at the Sinai/Israel border
3) Hamas mustn't be able to rearm. International & regional actors needed for this ("Egypt can play a key role in bringing about ceasefire.")
4) A ceasefire must not simple be a "time-out" for Hamas, it must be an extended period of quiet for Southern Israel.
Israeli ceasefire terms via @pdanahar are ones I dont think Hamas can meet. Not sure it can stop all groups in #Gaza from firing for long
— Jon Donnison (@JonDonnison) November 19, 2012
For it's part Hamas demands a guarantee from Israel that it will stop "all acts of aggression and assassinations," according to Reuters. One official said the Gaza government would seek assurances from the U.S. that it would be the "guaranteeing party" and that Hamas wanted an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza as part of any deal.
"Whoever started the war must end it," Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told a news conference in Cairo. "The people of Gaza are not asking for an end of the war, they are asking for their rights, they are asking that Israel end its assassinations and its raids and lift the blockade of Gaza."
Someone has to stop shooting, but both sides want the other to do so first. And Israel lifting the naval blockade is unlikely.
For now talks continue in Egypt while rockets are fired into Israel and air strikes occur in Gaza.
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