First, both sides would agree to a suspension of hostilities of at least five days or up to a week, beginning Sunday, to allow for humanitarian assistance to Gaza’s besieged civilian population.
Second, Israel and Hamas would begin negotiations toward a more long-term settlement of the Gaza crisis during the truce, with Egypt playing the role of mediator and the Palestinian Fatah organization participating.
According to the plan, the United States, the European Union, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would serve as guarantors that the negotiations would work to the end goal of meeting both sides’ key demands: for Israel, ridding Gaza of the rockets and tunnels that pose a security threat to the Jewish state, and for Hamas, ending the Israeli embargo of Gaza that for years has choked the small Palestinian enclave.
The new plan was taking shape less than two weeks after Hamas rejected a cease-fire proposal from Egypt that Israel quickly accepted. But Kerry’s plan includes key differences from the earlier proposal that not only reflect a very different situation on the ground as a result of Israel’s military incursion into Gaza, but which also aim to entice Hamas to accept a cease-fire this time around.
New to this plan: inclusion of the guarantors as well as international pledges that Israel’s blockade and a plan to repair heavy damage sustained in the Gaza Strip will be addressed.
The proposed cease-fire plan also takes into account the presence of the Israeli military inside Gaza and does not call for a full Israeli withdrawal. Instead, it would allow for some units to remain during the cease-fire period to continue locating and destroying tunnels into Israel.
