Egypt, Israel, Hamas close to reaching cease-fire deal

Source: Haaretz

Senior Israeli ministers conclude meeting on Gaza after relatively calm night; IDF strikes 100 targets in Gaza overnight; UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expected today; government postpones decision on whether to launch ground invasion of Gaza by at least a day.
By Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff | Nov.19, 2012 | 9:55 PM

A decision on whether to launch a ground invasion of Gaza has been put off by at least a day, after Israel decided Monday to give the Egyptians more time to try to broker a cease-fire with Hamas, a senior Israeli official said.

Tuesday's talks in Cairo are expected to be decisive. The Israeli delegates to the talks, which are being led by Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Raafat Shehata, plan to return there on Tuesday to present Israel's response to demands being made by Hamas.

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Netanyahu, Barak and Lieberman debated giving the green light to a ground invasion, but at about 4 A.M. Monday, after six hours of discussions, it was decided to let the diplomatic efforts continue, the senior official said.

"It's now 50-50 between a cease-fire and expanding the operation," said the official. "We would prefer a diplomatic solution, but if we have no choice we'll go into Gaza. There's no other way."

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/egypt-israel-hamas-close-to-reaching-cease-fire-deal-1.478922