Cairo talks on Gaza truce 'moving in right direction': Palestinian negotiator

Egypt and the Palestinians are on the same page says Islamic Jihad's Ziad Nakhala

A senior figure from Islamic Jihad has said that the unified demands of the Palestinian delegation currently in Cairo for ceasefire talks were received positively by the Egyptian side on Sunday evening.
The demands include the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, opening all border crossings to end the blockade of the territory, the release of all Palestinians detained by Israel in the West Bank since 12 June, and establishing contact between Gaza and the West Bank.
According to Ziad Nakhala, the deputy secretary-general of Islamic Jihad who represented his movement in today's talks, “things are moving in the right direction and the climate [with the Egyptian side] has been positive.”
The Palestinian delegation, which consists of representatives of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions, convened in Cairo on Sunday and presented the Egyptian side with a set of demands for a ceasefire agreement with Israel, despite the latter's boycott of the talks. An American delegation is currently present in Cairo for the negotiations.
According to Nakhala, the Palestinian delegation will resume its meeting with Egyptian intelligence officer Mohamed Farid El-Tohamy on Monday, but progress has been made already. “We are in the final minutes of the talks,” he told Ahram Online.
This marks a significant shift in the strained relations between Cairo and the Palestinian resistance factions, especially Hamas, which led opposition to Egypt's proposal for a ceasefire agreement more than two weeks ago. The proposal made the opening of the of Gaza's border crossings (with Israel and Egypt) conditional upon an improvement in the security situation, while Hamas and Islamic Jihad wanted clearer language guaranteeing effective measures to end the blockade.
The Egyptian initiative was finally rejected after talks with the Palestinians reached a dead end on 19 July, adding further mistrust and antipathy between Cairo and Hamas. As the Israeli assult on Gaza continued, efforts to revive ceasefire talks through mediators close to Hamas such as Turkey and Qatar had little impact on the escalating crisis, but might have drawn concerns in Cairo about its receding regional role.
After a 72-hour ceasefire agreement fell apart on Friday hours after it went into effect, Egypt remained adamant on mediating between the two sides and hosted a Palestinian delegation under the Palestinian Authority's leadership. Although Israel officially boycotted the talks, it is indirectly conducting negotiations through Egyptian and US officials, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
With little expected from the Cairo talks in the absence of an Israeli delegation willing to engage in ceasefire negotiations, the Egyptian-Palestinian agreement expressed by Nakhala comes as a surprise, and has yet to be confirmed by Egyptian officials involved in the talks.
“Time means blood and there is realisation from all parties that no one can afford more of it,” said Nakhala.
“We want the guarantee of the Egyptians. If Cairo guarantees our demands [Egypt's] officials will take it from therethe way they see fit and we accept that.”
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