Cairo - Two senior Israeli officials arrived in Cairo on Thursday to discuss the details of a French-Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, airport sources told Deutsche Presse- Agentur, dpa. Political advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Shalom Turgeman and senior military official Amos Gilad are in Cairo for a short visit to negotiate details of the proposal, which calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Earlier, Israeli officials said the Jewish state welcomed the proposal, announced by Egypt President Hosny Mubarak at a press conference on Tuesday with French leader Nicolas Sarkozy.
The plan calls for a cessation of violence, allowing aid to reach civilians, along with a call for the Israelis and Palestinians to take steps to make sure another conflict does not erupt. It also includes an invitation to discuss ending Israel's blockade on Gaza.
Egypt also hosted a Hamas delegation two days ago in an effort to ease the onslaught in Gaza and halt rocket fire.
Mark Regev, an Israeli spokesman, said Israel wanted a "sustainable solution" that would include an end to Palestinian rocket fire and a mechanism to prevent the rearming of Hamas after a ceasefire.
Mubarak said the proposal also called for the main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, to start reconciliation talks.
Egypt had brokered a six-month ceasefire, which started to break down in early November and officially ended on 19 December. On 27 December Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, which so far has caused over 700 Palestinian deaths. Nine Israelis, including six soldiers, have died.
