Senior Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad arrived in Cairo yesterday for talks on extending the ceasefire with the Palestinian factions in Gaza Strip, which ends next Thursday. He would also discuss the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. An Israeli official said Israel supports the extension of a truce, though violence between the two sides re-erupted more than a month ago. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told France Press that the deposed prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haneya is expected to touch upon important issues, including the truce, during the celebrations of the 12th birthday of the Hamas movement. It is meaningless to renew the ceasefire while Israel's aggression and assaults continue and the siege on Gaza has been tightened, he added. Barhoum described Gilad's move with the Egyptian leadership as an Israeli-Egyptian affair, saying Hamas has no idea about the issues tackled with Egypt, and the factions have not been notified with nothing new regarding the truce. Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing two days ago for a few hours for 39 Palestinian patients who completed recovery in Cairo hospitals. The dead body of a Palestinian has also accessed Gaza. Palestinian embassy deputy at Rafah crossing, Mohamed Arafat, said Ahmed Ouda Abu Emeira, 31, entered Egypt last September 20 for an open heart surgery at Nasser hospital and passed away last Saturday in a hotel in Arish.
