ISRAEL-MIDEAST-GAZA/LIEBERMAN Israel's Lieberman threatens Hamas as Gaza ceasefire set to expire

Record ID: 398662

  • Title: ISRAEL-MIDEAST-GAZA/LIEBERMAN Israel's Lieberman threatens Hamas as Gaza ceasefire set to expire
  • Date: 13th August 2014
  • Summary: BAT HADAR, ISRAEL (AUGUST 13, 2014) (REUTERS) ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN ARRIVING AT MEETING WITH HEADS OF LOCAL COUNCILS IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL LIEBERMAN SMILING MEDIA CREWS (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN SAYING: "Without us ridding ourselves of Hamas, it won't be possible to make progress to a satisfactory arrangement, neither
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5R7KT1MFBCRGCFAOF3F7VF9GD
  • Story Text: Israel must dispose of Hamas in order to make any progress towards a Gaza arrangement, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday (August 13), adding that the Islamist group must return the bodies of Israeli soldiers' or its leadership will be targeted.
    Lieberman's comments came as renewed fighting in the Gaza war loomed while a three-day ceasefire wound down and indirect talks in Cairo between Israel and the Palestinians on ending the conflict showed no signs of a breakthrough.
    Israeli negotiators returned to Egypt after overnighting in Israel, with the truce in month-old hostilities that have killed more than 2,000 people due to expire at 2100 GMT.
    Lieberman threatened Hamas during a meeting with local council heads in the rocket hit region of southern Israel.
    "Without us ridding ourselves of Hamas, it won't be possible to make progress to a satisfactory arrangement, neither from the security aspect nor diplomatically," he said.
    "Israel must not end this operation without the return of the soldiers' bodies. And if the terrorists on the other side do not accept this, do not understand this and not willing under this or that arrangement to return the soldiers' bodies, they must understand that they will get back the bodies of Mohammed Deif, Haniyeh and the entire leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip," he added, referring to Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh and the leader of Hamas armed wing Mohammed Deif.
    Israel has declared the two soldiers, who were killed in combat in Gaza, as dead and believes that Hamas is in possession of their bodies' remains.
    Hamas, the dominant group in the Gaza Strip, and its allies are seeking a lifting of Israeli and Egyptian blockades of the coastal enclave, a move that would require deep Israeli security concerns to be addressed.
    Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were tightlipped on Wednesday on whether a deal was near. A Palestinian embassy source said the talks were continuing and Palestinian delegates would hold more meetings with Egyptian mediators.
    The two warring sides are not meeting face-to-face. Israel regards Hamas, which has advocated its destruction, as a terrorist organisation that cannot be a direct negotiating partner.
    Hamas also wants the opening of a seaport for Gaza, a project Israel says should be dealt with only in any future talks on a permanent peace agreement with the Palestinians.
    Israel has resisted lifting the economically stifling blockade on Gaza and suspects Hamas will restock with weapons from abroad if access to the coastal territory is eased. Neighbouring Egypt also sees Hamas as a security threat.
    Since Israel launched its military campaign on July 8 to quell cross-border Hamas rocket fire, 1,939 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said.
    Israel has lost 64 soldiers and three civilians, and the rocket salvoes - many of them intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system - have disrupted life for tens of thousands of Israelis.
    The heavy losses among civilians and the destruction of thousands of homes in Gaza, where the United Nations said 425,000 of 1.8 million population have been displaced by the war, have stoked international alarm.
    Israel pulled ground forces out of Gaza last week after it said the army had completed its main mission of destroying more than 30 tunnels dug by militants for cross-border attacks. It now wants guarantees Hamas will not use any reconstruction supplies sent into the enclave to rebuild the tunnels.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register