Qatar to Host Gaza Ceasefire Talks

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Qatar will host a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday to try to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel to bring an end to 12 days of warfare, a senior Qatari source told Reuters.

Due to take place in Doha, the meeting will be headed by the Gulf state's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who has been acting as a "channel of communication" between Hamas and the international community, said the senior source familiar with the matter.

"Qatar has presented Hamas' requests to the international community, the list has been presented to France and to the U.N., the talks tomorrow will be to further negotiate these conditions."

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has rejected Egyptian efforts to end fighting that has killed more than 300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, saying any deal must include an end to a blockade of the coastal area and a recommitment to a ceasefire reached in an eight-day war there in 2012. A U.N. statement said that Ban will be traveling to the Middle East over the weekend "to express solidarity with Israelis and Palestinians and to help them, in coordination with regional and international actors, to end the violence and find a way forward".

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/middle-east-unrest/qatar-host-gaza-ceasefire-talks-n160331

[bemildred]

1. Qatar to host Gaza ceasefire talks with Abbas and U.N. chief

DOHA, July 20 (Reuters) - Qatar will host a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday to try to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel to bring an end to 12 days of warfare, a senior Qatari source told Reuters.

Due to take place in Doha, the meeting will be headed by the Gulf state's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who has been acting as a "channel of communication" between Hamas and the international community, said the senior source familiar with the matter.

"Qatar has presented Hamas' requests to the international community, the list has been presented to France and to the U.N., the talks tomorrow will be to further negotiate these conditions."

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has rejected Egyptian efforts to end fighting that has killed more than 300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, saying any deal must include an end to a blockade of the coastal area and a recommitment to a ceasefire reached in an eight-day war there in 2012.

http://www.trust.org/item/20140719230924-k1dct/

[sabbat hunter]

5. shouldn't Israel

be invited to the ceasefire talks as they involved in the fighting?

[bemildred]

6. Yes, I would think so. nt

[bemildred]

8. I don't think anybody is going to impose their will on the IDF.

They are going to have to be willing to abide by the rules voluntarily. The UN seems like a good idea, but I don't think they are trusted by Israelis. I don't really have any hot ideas as to who to put in the middle to supervise. It's a tough question. On the other hand the present situation is a road to nowhere. This is as good as it gets in this direction. I've been watching it get worse for years and years. That is what did the job in South Africa, both sides could see that it was their only hope for a future worth having.

[sabbat hunter]

10. I cannot blame Israel if

they do not trust UN peacekeepers. After all those same peacekeepers have done a terrible job in making sure that hezbollah is disarmed, and not a threat to Israel.

[bemildred]

11. Like the IDF, nobody is going to order Hezbollah around.

And as we can see, the IDF has only partial and temporary success in trying to order the Palestinians around, despite all of the advantages it enjoys.

That is kind of the point. If you want something besides a nasty outdoor jail next door, you're going to have to help them turn it into something else. The error was thinking that they would all just go away, or that it would be allowed to just expel them all and that would somehow fix it. It wouldn't. It's Israel's problem, they own it. They need to fix it.

Remember, in the end both the USSR and the USA failed to control Afghanistan? And the USA abjectly failed to control Iraq.

Edit: And I agree about the UN. They are too disorganized, and most are on the other side in this dispute by now. You need somebody that doesn't have a "side".

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2. Hamas says invited for Cairo truce talks

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas, the main power in Gaza, said on Sunday it had received an "invitation" for talks in Cairo on an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire with Israel, after nearly two weeks of conflict.

Regional and world leaders are pushing for a truce to end the bloodiest conflict in the besieged territory since 2009, which has killed more than 340 Palestinians and five Israelis in 13 days of Israeli airstrikes and cross-border rocket fire by militants.

Hamas "received an invitation, through mediators, for a delegation headed by (chief-in-exile) Khaled Meshaal to visit Cairo and discuss the Egyptian initiative," it said in a statement.

It said the Islamist movement's "response was that its position on the initiative is known, but it is at the same time ready to cooperate with a move by any party that will achieve the specific Palestinian demands."

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/hamas-says-invited-for/1272936.html

[Jefferson23]

3. A step in the right direction, invite them...hoping for a good outcome.

Cease fire/truce...at any level.

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4. Seems unlikely to get far without them involved, being as they are shooting the rockets.

I wouldn't get too optimistic yet. Some poster in another forum was saying they are calling up more troops. I don't see that yet, but maybe he has special sources.

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9. Diplomatic drive intensifies as Gaza death toll soars

GAZA CITY: Fresh Israeli bombardments killed five people in Gaza on Sunday, hiking the death toll from the assault to over 350, as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict picked up with UN chief Ban Ki-moon due in the region.

As Israel pressed its air, sea and ground offensive against the besieged coastal territory, Hamas refused to yield, continuing assaults and reiterating its demands for any ceasefire to take place.

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal was to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Qatar to discuss an Egyptian-proposed truce on Sunday, and the movement said it had received an invite to Cairo for ceasefire talks.

On day 13 of the bloodiest Gaza conflict in several years, early morning Israeli strikes in the southern city of Rafah killed five men, medics said, raising the total death toll to 348 Palestinians.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/diplomatic-drive/1272966.html