BICOM

A senior Egyptian delegation arrived in Gaza yesterday to try and prevent an escalation of violence on the Israeli border.

Protesters rioted yesterday at the border and sent a number of balloons containing explosive devices into Israel, causing no injuries or damages. Explosives have also been used at night time demonstrations on the border. The Israel Defence Forces responded with riot dispersal measures and the Israeli Air Force hit a Hamas military compound in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian delegation, led by General Amr Hanafi, met with Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza. UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov is also involved in the talks as is Qatari Ambassador Mohammed al-Emadi.

Hamas claims Israel has not kept its part of the understandings that were agreed via Egyptian mediation in November. These included easing the blockade, extending the fishing zone and developing infrastructure projects, such as electricity generation.

Haniyeh reportedly warned Israel on Monday against military moves in the Gaza Strip, saying it would pay a heavy price for any such action. Haniyeh’s threats come after the Israeli army intensified its response to Hamas violence along the border.

Maariv quotes a senior Hamas official in Gaza saying: “The Egyptian government is doing all it can to lower the tension and avert war in the Gaza Strip and it seems to me the Israeli side doesn’t want to go to war on the eve of elections either.”

Israeli officials believe that the escalation of violence on the border by Hamas is intended to pressure the Egyptian delegation into more concessions. Egypt has in turned offered to release four members of Hamas’s military wing and to keep the Rafah crossing open for more than a month in order to bring calm to the border.

Hamas cancelled a protest at Zikim Beach on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip. Hamas officials claimed that the protests, which are held every week, were cancelled due to weather conditions, but it has been suggested that it was cancelled because of the presence of the Egyptian delegation.