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| New Fighting a Bid for Leverage as a Gaza Cease-Fire Expires | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| GAZA CITY — Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip resumed cross-border air assaults after a three-day cease-fire expired on Friday, but the renewed violence seemed less about meeting military goals than about jockeying for leverage in talks that had made little progress toward a more durable truce. | GAZA CITY — Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip resumed cross-border air assaults after a three-day cease-fire expired on Friday, but the renewed violence seemed less about meeting military goals than about jockeying for leverage in talks that had made little progress toward a more durable truce. |
| Militants led by Hamas, the Islamist faction that dominates Gaza, sent a rocket soaring toward southern Israel exactly as the agreed-upon pause expired at 8 a.m., and fired about 50 throughout the day, wounding one soldier and one civilian and damaging a house in the border town of Sderot. | Militants led by Hamas, the Islamist faction that dominates Gaza, sent a rocket soaring toward southern Israel exactly as the agreed-upon pause expired at 8 a.m., and fired about 50 throughout the day, wounding one soldier and one civilian and damaging a house in the border town of Sderot. |
| Israel, which withdrew its ground troops earlier this week, responded quickly with airstrikes and artillery shelling that by day’s end had hit nearly 50 targets and killed five people, including three children. But Israel showed no signs of seeking to re-invade Gaza or escalate its airstrikes. | Israel, which withdrew its ground troops earlier this week, responded quickly with airstrikes and artillery shelling that by day’s end had hit nearly 50 targets and killed five people, including three children. But Israel showed no signs of seeking to re-invade Gaza or escalate its airstrikes. |
| The cause of the fighting appeared to be Hamas’s frustration that it could not get what it considers meaningful concessions from Israel and Egypt at the talks in Cairo. | The cause of the fighting appeared to be Hamas’s frustration that it could not get what it considers meaningful concessions from Israel and Egypt at the talks in Cairo. |
| The Egyptian foreign ministry asserted that the parties had reached agreement on “the great majority of topics” and urged an extension of the cease-fire to address “the very limited points still pending.” But Palestinian officials said the Israeli delegation had hardly addressed their demands to open border crossings, remove restrictions on trade, establish a seaport and release prisoners. | The Egyptian foreign ministry asserted that the parties had reached agreement on “the great majority of topics” and urged an extension of the cease-fire to address “the very limited points still pending.” But Palestinian officials said the Israeli delegation had hardly addressed their demands to open border crossings, remove restrictions on trade, establish a seaport and release prisoners. |
| Palestinian and Israeli analysts alike said that after a month of death and destruction, Hamas could not stop fighting without a tangible civic achievement, and was finding it difficult to climb down from an ambitious agenda in the face of a strong Egyptian-Israeli alliance. | Palestinian and Israeli analysts alike said that after a month of death and destruction, Hamas could not stop fighting without a tangible civic achievement, and was finding it difficult to climb down from an ambitious agenda in the face of a strong Egyptian-Israeli alliance. |
| The conflict on the ground between an advanced, high-tech military and a guerrilla group appeared to find an echo in diplomacy, as Egypt, Israel and the United States all pushed for President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority to take a leading role in running and rehabilitating Gaza. That would be a blow to Hamas, which took control of the territory in 2007, and tricky for Mr. Abbas, whose perceived cooperation with Israel has already hurt his credibility among Palestinians. | The conflict on the ground between an advanced, high-tech military and a guerrilla group appeared to find an echo in diplomacy, as Egypt, Israel and the United States all pushed for President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority to take a leading role in running and rehabilitating Gaza. That would be a blow to Hamas, which took control of the territory in 2007, and tricky for Mr. Abbas, whose perceived cooperation with Israel has already hurt his credibility among Palestinians. |
| Ahmed Yousef, a former Hamas leader who remains close to the movement, likened the renewed fighting to two people biting each other’s fingers to see who would surrender first. | Ahmed Yousef, a former Hamas leader who remains close to the movement, likened the renewed fighting to two people biting each other’s fingers to see who would surrender first. |
| “This is like a game, a chess game — you have all the time to continue, to show your enemy that you stay strong,” Mr. Yousef said in an interview at a seaside hotel in Gaza City. “For three days we couldn’t have a solid answer from the Israelis, so you have to go back to fighting. Your legitimate demand is not answered, so you have to put pressure on the other side.” | “This is like a game, a chess game — you have all the time to continue, to show your enemy that you stay strong,” Mr. Yousef said in an interview at a seaside hotel in Gaza City. “For three days we couldn’t have a solid answer from the Israelis, so you have to go back to fighting. Your legitimate demand is not answered, so you have to put pressure on the other side.” |
| Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who specializes in Arab affairs, said, “Hamas is in a bind because they have set such a high bar with their demands. | Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who specializes in Arab affairs, said, “Hamas is in a bind because they have set such a high bar with their demands. |
| “But you can see today Hamas and Israel exchanged blows but on a low scale — they were not firing all that they can,” Mr. Yaari noted. “Everybody understands there may be an extension or a new cease-fire.” | “But you can see today Hamas and Israel exchanged blows but on a low scale — they were not firing all that they can,” Mr. Yaari noted. “Everybody understands there may be an extension or a new cease-fire.” |
| A senior Palestinian official briefed on the Cairo negotiations said that Israel and Egypt had essentially dismissed all talk of a seaport or restored airport in Gaza, and only agreed to ease limits on travel and imports. In exchange for these concessions, Israel and its international backers demanded the demilitarization of Gaza, something the Palestinians said would come only with the establishment of an independent state. | A senior Palestinian official briefed on the Cairo negotiations said that Israel and Egypt had essentially dismissed all talk of a seaport or restored airport in Gaza, and only agreed to ease limits on travel and imports. In exchange for these concessions, Israel and its international backers demanded the demilitarization of Gaza, something the Palestinians said would come only with the establishment of an independent state. |
| “As Palestinians, we don’t want escalation, but it is our right to defend ourselves,” Azzam al-Ahmed, a negotiator who is close to Mr. Abbas, said in Cairo. “We won’t stay here indefinitely,” he added, referring to the talks. | “As Palestinians, we don’t want escalation, but it is our right to defend ourselves,” Azzam al-Ahmed, a negotiator who is close to Mr. Abbas, said in Cairo. “We won’t stay here indefinitely,” he added, referring to the talks. |
| Kobi Michael, former head of the Palestinian desk at Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry, said the negotiations so far had proved “a very humiliating treatment of Hamas by Egypt.” The country’s new president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, views Hamas as an enemy because it sprang from his main domestic rival, the Muslim Brotherhood. | Kobi Michael, former head of the Palestinian desk at Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry, said the negotiations so far had proved “a very humiliating treatment of Hamas by Egypt.” The country’s new president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, views Hamas as an enemy because it sprang from his main domestic rival, the Muslim Brotherhood. |
| Egypt’s role is critical not only as a broker of the talks, but because it controls Gaza’s gateway to the world, the Rafah border crossing, which has been closed much of the past year. Cairo has indicated that having Mr. Abbas’s security forces back on the border, as they were before Hamas wrested control of Gaza in 2007, would be required to get it reopened. | Egypt’s role is critical not only as a broker of the talks, but because it controls Gaza’s gateway to the world, the Rafah border crossing, which has been closed much of the past year. Cairo has indicated that having Mr. Abbas’s security forces back on the border, as they were before Hamas wrested control of Gaza in 2007, would be required to get it reopened. |
| “The Egyptians don’t bother with political correctness — they are very direct,” Mr. Michael said. “The Egyptians have a long memory, and like to serve up revenge cold.” | “The Egyptians don’t bother with political correctness — they are very direct,” Mr. Michael said. “The Egyptians have a long memory, and like to serve up revenge cold.” |
| Except for the weapons so central to its identity, Hamas has little to offer at the bargaining table. Renewing the rocket fire not only sent Israelis scrambling into bomb shelters on another sunny Friday. It also returned the world’s attention to the killing of nearly 1,900 Gaza residents since July 8, most of them civilians, including a 10-year-old boy felled by a drone Friday morning as he played at a mosque under construction near his home. | Except for the weapons so central to its identity, Hamas has little to offer at the bargaining table. Renewing the rocket fire not only sent Israelis scrambling into bomb shelters on another sunny Friday. It also returned the world’s attention to the killing of nearly 1,900 Gaza residents since July 8, most of them civilians, including a 10-year-old boy felled by a drone Friday morning as he played at a mosque under construction near his home. |
| The day’s exchanges, however, were much less aggressive than before the cease-fire. An afternoon airstrike hit a Gaza City home belonging to a Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Zahar, injuring three, witnesses said. A strike in Al Qarara, a village near Khan Younis, killed three cousins, ages 10, 12 and 22, who were in a crowd of people waiting outside a grocery store to fill bottles with clean water. | The day’s exchanges, however, were much less aggressive than before the cease-fire. An afternoon airstrike hit a Gaza City home belonging to a Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Zahar, injuring three, witnesses said. A strike in Al Qarara, a village near Khan Younis, killed three cousins, ages 10, 12 and 22, who were in a crowd of people waiting outside a grocery store to fill bottles with clean water. |
| The Israeli military reported that two rockets were fired into southern Israel even before the cease-fire expired, but the barrage began exactly at 8 a.m. for maximum public-statement effect. The rockets continued for hours, but none went beyond southern Israel, a contrast from a month in which a few sirens sounded in the Tel Aviv area most days. | The Israeli military reported that two rockets were fired into southern Israel even before the cease-fire expired, but the barrage began exactly at 8 a.m. for maximum public-statement effect. The rockets continued for hours, but none went beyond southern Israel, a contrast from a month in which a few sirens sounded in the Tel Aviv area most days. |
| “This is not a worsening of the conflict — this is a tactical move, and we need the perspective of time to understand whether this is also a strategic move,” Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, said on Israel Radio. “Military Hamas did not absorb a strong enough blow in order to have it agree to the conditions the Egyptians and Israelis are trying to force on it.” | “This is not a worsening of the conflict — this is a tactical move, and we need the perspective of time to understand whether this is also a strategic move,” Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, said on Israel Radio. “Military Hamas did not absorb a strong enough blow in order to have it agree to the conditions the Egyptians and Israelis are trying to force on it.” |
| Mkhaimer Abusaada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City, said that firing a few dozen rockets into Israel was not, “from a rational way of thinking,” likely to move Israel on core issues it considers a threat to its security. The audience for Friday’s display, he said, was really the beleaguered population of Gaza, where whole neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, displacing nearly a quarter of the 1.7 million residents, and virtually everyone has buried a loved one. | Mkhaimer Abusaada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City, said that firing a few dozen rockets into Israel was not, “from a rational way of thinking,” likely to move Israel on core issues it considers a threat to its security. The audience for Friday’s display, he said, was really the beleaguered population of Gaza, where whole neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, displacing nearly a quarter of the 1.7 million residents, and virtually everyone has buried a loved one. |
| “Hamas is trying to send a macho message to the Palestinian people — that we bring Israel to the negotiating table and we are still launching missiles,” Mr. Abusaada said. “The problem is, Hamas is acting like a superpower. We know that Israel is the superpower, and Hamas can only annoy the Israelis, but Hamas is not in a position to put enough pressure on Israel to make concessions.” | “Hamas is trying to send a macho message to the Palestinian people — that we bring Israel to the negotiating table and we are still launching missiles,” Mr. Abusaada said. “The problem is, Hamas is acting like a superpower. We know that Israel is the superpower, and Hamas can only annoy the Israelis, but Hamas is not in a position to put enough pressure on Israel to make concessions.” |
| Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, called the renewed rocket fire “unacceptable, intolerable and shortsighted.” A senior Israeli government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate diplomacy, said the Palestinian militants “have taken away the premise” for the Cairo talks — “an unconditional cease-fire.” | Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, called the renewed rocket fire “unacceptable, intolerable and shortsighted.” A senior Israeli government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate diplomacy, said the Palestinian militants “have taken away the premise” for the Cairo talks — “an unconditional cease-fire.” |
| But Sam Bahour, a Palestinian-American business consultant and political commentator, said the Cairo process was inherently flawed because Israel and the Palestinians did not come to it on equal footing after 47 years of occupation. | But Sam Bahour, a Palestinian-American business consultant and political commentator, said the Cairo process was inherently flawed because Israel and the Palestinians did not come to it on equal footing after 47 years of occupation. |
| “The sheer use of the word ‘cease-fire’ is insulting — it depicts an artificial symmetry,” Mr. Bahour wrote on the blog Middle East Eye, “even though reality on the ground is totally contrary.” | “The sheer use of the word ‘cease-fire’ is insulting — it depicts an artificial symmetry,” Mr. Bahour wrote on the blog Middle East Eye, “even though reality on the ground is totally contrary.” |
| Pointing to Egypt’s border restrictions on Gaza, he added: “To be conducting these ‘cease-fire’ talks in the capital of a country that participates in the siege of the Gaza Strip should be an embarrassment to every member of the Palestinian negotiating team, first among them Hamas.” | Pointing to Egypt’s border restrictions on Gaza, he added: “To be conducting these ‘cease-fire’ talks in the capital of a country that participates in the siege of the Gaza Strip should be an embarrassment to every member of the Palestinian negotiating team, first among them Hamas.” |