Egypt, France Put Forth Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

By: Pamela Falk
Topics: World Watch

The U.N. Security Council's emergency meeting Tuesday night did not produce a peace plan, but the French and Egyptian foreign ministers announced a new proposal for a temporary cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

The proposal called for the re-opening of a border crossing, and appeared to be the result of negotiations between Hamas leaders in Syria and Egyptian officials.

The Egypt-France proposal differed from earlier cease-fire propositions because it theoretically has the implicit agreement of Hamas. Senior members of the militant group met Tuesday in Damascus and Cairo with Syrian and Egyptian leaders, who in turn said Hamas might be ready to stop firing rockets into southern Israel.

Click here to read CBS News' George Baghdadi's story about Tuesday's diplomacy in Damascus.

Asked if something was going to break in the ongoing fighting, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told CBS News to keep an eye on Cairo. Several Arab foreign ministers also indicated that the next 48 hours would be essential to the establishment of a possible truce.

Although Israel has not reacted to the proposal, Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev did announce at the U.N. meeting the opening of a humanitarian corridor into Gaza.

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who brokered the truce four years ago between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel, said she was pleased by the Egyptian-French initiative and that the U.S. is deeply concerned about the situation in Gaza and the ongoing attacks against Israel.

"The ongoing attacks against Israel and the decision that Hamas made not to respect the previous period of calm shows us that when this ends there must be new arrangements in place, not a return to the status quo ante," said Rice.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, returning from lunch in Washington with President Bush, issued a statement Tuesday that he was deeply dismayed by an Israeli attack outside a U.N. school and renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire.

Pamela Falk
Pamela Falk is CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst and an international lawyer, based at the United Nations.

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by spinproof January 7, 2009 7:30 AM EST: Pres. Bush has been U.S. President for 8 long years and his Mideast Peace Plans and Policies or lack thereof shares most of the blame here! As far as U.S. Leadership goes, the U.S. Mideast Peace failures during the Bush Presidency ranks right up there with the other notable G.W. Bush failure and that is getting a handle on government spending and U.S. Debt! Pres. George Bush came to power with a U.S. Deficit just under $6 Trillion and has expanded the U.S. Debt to just over $11 Trillion with out of control spending. To date Pres. George Bush has created more red ink, more U.S. Debt than all the other U.S. Presidents combined! Pres. Bush stands alone, King of Deficits both in Peace and Financially.; Reply to this comment


by grandesign January 7, 2009 3:50 AM EST: "The Egypt-France proposal differed from earlier ceasefire proposals because it theoretically has the agreement of Hamas since its leadership met in Damascus and Cairo with Syrian and Egyptian leaders, who in turn said that Hamas is ready to stop its rocket fire into southern Israel."

EXCELLENT!! Let''s get the UN resolution in writing, all parties sign it, and then de-esculate this war.; Reply to this comment