Cabinet Meets on Egyptian Ceasefire Proposal

By Chana Ya'ar | Israel National News | November 19, 2012

IDF reservists in Pillar of DefenseIsrael's Cabinet convened late Monday night to discuss a ceasefire proposal advanced by Egypt, according to a radio news broadcast.

No details were provided about the proposal, which emerged following a day of indirect negotiations Sunday in Cairo between Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli government warned Gaza's terrorist organizations they had 36 hours in which to stop raining rocket fire on its families – or the country's Pillar of Defense ("Amud Anan" in Hebrew) counter terror offensive would be expanded to the next level.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Cairo just a few hours ago (Monday evening) on the first leg of a visit intended to assist efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between the terrorists and Israel.

On Sunday, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi met with Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Masha'al and representatives of the terror organizations at the presidential palace in Cairo. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met with Morsi last week at the palace to discuss the situation as well.

The United States has meanwhile continued to firmly back Israel in its right to defends its citizens from Gaza rocket attacks.

Meanwhile, 103 PA Arabs, most of whom were terrorists, have been killed since Israel began its counter terror offensive against Gaza six days ago.

The operation was launched to silence the lethal rocket, mortar and missile fire that has been raining almost constantly down on families in southern Israel for months.

The frequency and duration of the attacks has steadily increased over the past year to the point that hundreds of thousands of school children were missing days of classes due to the rocket fire -- finally prompting the government to take action to end the deadly barrage.

Israel launched its offensive last Wednesday with the assassination of Ahmed Jaba'ari, the head of the Izz a-Din al-Qassam military wing of Hamas. On Monday, Israel also assassinated Ramez Harb, a senior Islamic Jihad commander of the terrorist group's Al Quds Brigades military wing, as he hid in a media center in Gaza City.