Palestinians give ultimatum over talks

A Palestinian negotiator says his team will quit Egyptian-brokered talks on ending the Gaza war unless Israeli negotiators return to Cairo.

Israeli negotiators left Cairo on Friday. Israeli officials have said the team will not return as long as rocket fire from Gaza continues.

The Israeli army says Gaza terrorists have fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells at Israel over the weekend, including two on Sunday morning.

Bassam Salhi, a Palestinian negotiator, says his team met Egyptian mediators late last night.

He said: “We told the Egyptians that if the Israelis are not coming and if there is no significant development, we are leaving today.”

The indirect talks between Israel and a Palestinian delegation that includes Hamas began last week.

Hamas has said it wants assurances by Israel that it is willing to lift the blockade on Gaza before observing another ceasefire.

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.

Instead, one proposal circulated by the Egyptian mediators over the weekend offered a minor easing of some of the restrictions, according to Palestinian negotiators.

The 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.

The indirect talks started last week during a three-day truce Hamas refused to extend.