Arab League chief welcomes Gaza's open-ended ceasefire
Ahram Online, Wednesday 27 Aug 2014
El-Arabi praises ceasefire and speaks of future efforts to end Israeli occupation of Palestine


Arab League Secretary-General, Nabil El-Arabi, welcomed the Cairo-sponsored, open-ended ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian factions and Israel, Al-Ahram's Arabic news website reported Wednesday.



El-Arabi praised Egyptian efforts to reach the Tuesday agreement between both parties to end Israel's seven-week offensive on the Gaza Strip.



The head of the pan-Arab organisation called on the Palestinian groups and Israel to "exert their maximum efforts in abiding by the terms and conditions of the deal."



"The Arab League continues to examine - with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Arab - international moves to end Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories and prevent further violations of the Palestinians' legitimate rights," he said.



El-Arabi stated that these issues will be discussed during an Arab League meeting, which Abbas will attend, on 7 September.



Head of the Palestinian negotiating delegation, Azzam Al-Ahmed, told AFP that Egypt's initiative – on which the truce deal was built – includes opening crossings into Gaza for goods and humanitarian and food aid along with medical supplies and material to repair water, electricity and mobile phone networks.



Restrictions on fishing would end immediately with boats allowed to fish and sail up up to six nautical miles from shore, Azzam Al-Ahmed pointed out.



In a press statement, Egypt's foreign ministry announced that indirect talks will resume within one month of Tuesday's ceasefire.



Since the beginning of Israel's offensive on Gaza in 8 July, 2,143 Palestinians have lost their lives, along with more than 12,000 others injured. On the Israeli side, 70 people – including 64 soldiers – were killed.



https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/109345.aspx