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Gaza truce holds for second day

Israel furious as UN unveils probe team; Cairo talks focus on Gaza blockade

AFP, Jerusalem
The skies over Gaza remained calm yesterday on the second day of a 72-hour truce as negotiators in Cairo prepared to tackle the thorny issue of the Israeli blockade.
As Gaza’s residents ventured out to try to piece together their battered lives, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were to sit down for a second day of indirect talks aimed at finding a durable end to the five-week confrontation.
But a senior Israeli official said there had been no progress so far, telling AFP there was still a long way to go to reach an agreement to end the conflict, which erupted on July 8 when Israel launched military operations to halt cross-border rocket fire from Gaza.
"The negotiations are difficult and gruelling," a Palestinian official said of Monday's talks, which lasted almost 10 hours and which were described as "serious."
But he said yesterday's meetings would be "the most important," sayingthey would tackle core issues such as Israel's eight-year blockade of Gaza, which the Palestinians want lifted.
Ahead of the talks, an Israeli official played down the chances of success.
"The gaps are still very wide. There has not been progress in the negotiations," he told AFP yesterday ahead of the return of the Israeli delegation to Cairo in the early afternoon.
Talks were scheduled to last into the evening, a Palestinian official said.
The two delegations gather in separate rooms at the headquarters of the Egyptian General Intelligence and never see each other, with mediators shuttling between them with proposals and counterproposals, a source said.
Hamas wants Israel to lift the blockade it imposed on Gaza in 2006 before it will stop rocket attacks. Israel has said it will only facilitate Gaza's reconstruction if the enclave is fully disarmed.
Meanwhile, Israel lashed out after the UN Human Rights Council named experts who would be involved in an inquiry into its Gaza offensive.
Canadian international lawyer William Schabas, who will head the commission, is widely regarded in Israel as being hostile to the Jewish state over reported calls to haul Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the International Criminal Court.
"This commission's anti-Israeli conclusions have already been written, all it needs is a signature," railed foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
Schabas denies being anti-Israel.
In northern Gaza, several families could be seen picking through the rubble of their badly-damaged homes not far from the Erez crossing.
As residents of one apartment uncovered remains of a large missile, others outside brewed coffee on a fire made with paper and wood collected from the ruins. Some even brought breakfast, clearing a space to sit and eat among piles of rubble, broken furniture and twisted steel.
Egypt, which brokered the three-day truce, has urged the warring sides to make every effort to reach "a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire".
Efforts to extend a similar 72-hour lull last week shattered after Hamas refused to hold its fire beyond the deadline, accusing Israel of refusing to lift the blockade.
Both sides said they were ready to resume hostilities if the talks failed again.
The Israeli military confirmed one of its naval patrol boats had opened fire when a small motor boat from Gaza sailed beyond the three nautical mile offshore limit imposed by Israel.
Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz warned that without a reasonable outcome to the talks, there could be another ground operation in Gaza.
Finance Minister Yair Lapid told AFP he was pushing for an international conference on Gaza’s future that would involve regional players as well as Washington, the European Union and moderate Arab states such as Saudi Arabia.