Israel accepted another cease-fire on Tuesday, for the 12th time in 50 days, with this one open-ended and brokered again by the Egyptians.
Despite the Egyptian announcement of the cease-fire, rocket alert sirens continued to be heard in Israel's southern communities after the truce's slated commencement at 7 p.m. An Israeli was killed by one of dozens of mortar shells fired at the Eshkol Regional Council just before the cease-fire was set to commence.
Senior diplomatic officials said that given the history of the last dozens truces, most of which were violated before they expired by Hamas, the IDF remained prepared for any eventuality.
The Egyptian proposal was very similar to the one that Israel accepted and Hamas rejected over a month ago, on July 15.
The general parameters of the cease-fire is that this one will not be limited in time, that Israel will allow humanitarian aid – under supervision – into Gaza to begin rebuilding, and that within a month both sides will raise other issues.
Israel will raise the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, and the steps needed to ensure that Hamas does not re-arm, while Hamas will demand a seaport, airport, the opening of the border crossings, the release of prisoners freed in the Gilad Schalit deal and then re-arrested, and the transfer of money to pay Hamas salaries. A month ago these were Hamas’ demands for stopping the fighting, demands that Israel made clear were completely unrealistic.
Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk tweeted that the negotiations had ended and an understanding has been reached, "culminating in the resilience of our people and the victory of our resistance."
The members of the eight-person security cabinet were updated and briefed about the Egyptian proposal, but were not asked to vote on it. This was widely interpreted as a sign that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon were not confident that they would have mustered enough votes to approve the cease-fire.
Along with Netanyahu and Ya'alon, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni would have likely voted for it, while Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and quite possibly Communications Minister Gilad Erdan would have likely voted against.
Officials in the Prime Minister's Office said that the security cabinet in the past authorized Netanyahu and Ya'alon to decide on whether to accept a cease-fire, and so there was no need to once again take the matter to a vote. The official said that a legal opinion on this matter was given.