Special report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts

    BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday announced a proposal for an immediate truce in Gaza, which calls for the opening of safe corridors for relief supplies into Gaza, and invites Israelis and Palestinians to meet urgently to discuss the prevention of a resumption of violence.

    The proposal, endorsed promptly by the United Nations and the United States, while winning immediate support from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, seems to bring a ray of hope that diplomacy would be successful in bringing about a truce in the Gaza Strip.

    U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the initiative Tuesday.

    U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, while offering U.S. support to the initiative at the Security Council meeting Tuesday, added that any peace plan "has to be a solution that does not allow the rearmament of Hamas."

    A response from Israel is still awaited on the proposal.

    If the Egyptian-French proposal signifies a move closer to a truce in Gaza, then how far is the proposal from finally bringing it about?

    UNPARALLEL BOTTOM LINES

    The Egyptian proposal contains the following points: firstly, Israel and the Palestinian factions should accept an immediate truce for a limited period, during which time safe corridors for relief supplies into Gaza would be opened.

    The initiative then invites Israelis and Palestinians to meet to discuss how to avoid a resumption of fighting, including securing the borders and lifting the blockade of Gaza, which Israel says rocket and mortar attacks by Hamas have forced it to impose.

    Egypt would also invite the Palestinian Authority and all Palestinian factions to respond to its efforts to achieve Palestinian reconciliation, which Cairo has failed to broker so far.

    However, the proposal seems to be some distance away from what Israel has demanded in return for a ceasefire.

    "We will hold our fire under two conditions: one is an end to the arms smuggling from Sinai (Egypt) into Gaza, and the other is the cessation of all terror activity, not just the rocket fire," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday.

    Israel has also asked for an international border crossing with Gaza and a halt to weapons supplies to Hamas through tunnels along the border with Egypt.

    As Olmert told the local Ha'aretz daily Tuesday, he was in contact with numerous world leaders in working toward a diplomatic solution to the crisis and "the result (of the diplomatic maneuvers) must be an effective blockading of the Philadelphi Route, with supervision and follow-ups."

    The Philadelphi Route is an area between Gaza and Egypt where militants have been digging tunnels for smuggling weapons and guerillas.

    On Monday, a Hamas delegation led by the movement's senior member Emad al-Alami held talks with Egyptian officials for the first time since the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

    Stating the group's position, Alami said Hamas seeks an end to the Israeli aggression, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, opening the crossing points, especially Rafah, with a total lifting of the blockade, according to the Egyptian Gazette newspaper.

    According to analysts, given the precedence of the Egypt-proposed six-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which expired on Dec.19, it is not impossible that Hamas would comply with the condition of ending rocket attacks into Israel.

    It is the issue of lifting the blockade that is pivotal. In exchange for stopping rocket fire, Hamas would demand Israel and Egypt reopen border crossings that would allow a resumption of economic life in Gaza.

    But Israel has imposed the clampdown in the first place to undermine and smother Hamas, and Israel is not the only party worried about the side effects of lifting the blockade.

    SITUATION COULD GET WORSE BEFORE GETTING BETTER

    Since neither side is likely to have all its demands met, the two sides would have to gather as much bargaining weight as possible before settling on the amount of compromise each makes.

    On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department said Washington wants "an immediate ceasefire that is durable, sustainable and not time-limited," while the Arab states are emphasizing an immediate cessation of hostilities.

    Israeli troops continued the ground incursion Tuesday. About 40Palestinian civilians were killed when Israel Defense Forces (IDF) mortar shells hit a U.N. school in Gaza Tuesday, and senior officers admit that the IDF has been using enormous firepower, according to Ha'aretz.

    While speculation circulated that Israel's ideal goal would be to root out Hamas, many analysts say the realistic one, in light of Hamas' some 20,000 members and wide popularity among Gazans, is to reach a lasting ceasefire on more favorable conditions and at the same time weaken Hamas as far as possible.

    Israeli officials have reportedly said current diplomatic efforts are directed toward buying a few more days for the IDF to further advance its mission, which mirrors speculations that Israel is trying to give Hamas the hardest possible punch before it bows to international pressure to sign a ceasefire agreement.