Barring a last-minute change, and unless Hamas' political leader Khaled Mashaal torpedoes things again, the cabinet was likely to meet on Tuesday and debate the recent developments in the Cairo cease-fire negotiations. The most prominent detail emerging from the talks at this point is the fact that the Palestinians have apparently agreed to shelve their demand for a sea port in the Gaza Strip, on top of already agreeing to drop their demand for an airport. In exchange, Egypt has assured the Palestinian Authority that "everything will be alright," as far as their demand to open the Rafah crossing. According to the agreement, the move would require the constant presence of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces at the crossing. The PA security forces will be tasked with ensuring the Philadelphi Corridor does not turn into a major smuggling route, and the PA's institutions will be made the pipeline through which the money Hamas needs to pay its employees' wages and rehabilitate Gaza flows. Egypt has made no secret of its desire to use these talks as the first step in reintroducing the PA as the dominant force in Gaza. Israel has expressed its reservations over this gambit's chances. Israel is convinced that Hamas, in its distress, may agree to this now, but it is sure to do everything within its power to torpedo this move on the ground, as there is little chance Hamas would allow PA officials to assert any control in Gaza. As part of the agreement, Israel will open the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings, and will allow a certain expansion of Gaza's fishing zone. The demand for the full demilitarization of Gaza has apparently been put on the back burner, and Israel and Egypt have agreed to combine their efforts to stop Hamas' rearmament. Mashaal remains the biggest threat to this agreement. On Monday, he again tried to improve Hamas' positions in the talks by involving Qatar. Israeli officials said Monday they hoped the agreement would also include the exchange of the remains of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin for those of Hamas terrorists killed in Operation Protective Edge. Israel may also agree to release 20 Hamas operatives who were arrested during the Gaza campaign. Alongside the efforts to reach an agreement before the current 72-hour cease-fire elapses, there are mounting concerns in Israel over the future actions of the U.N. commission of inquiry into the operation. The composition of the commission and the broad investigative mandate it has been given have turned dealing with it into an "unprecedentedly dangerous task," as one senior official put it, as well as a challenge that "would require a complex and broad legal and diplomatic campaign meant to thwart the possibility that senior Israeli officials would have to face the International Criminal Court in The Hague."
