Israeli and Palestinian officials are holding indirect talks through Egyptian mediators in Cairo seeking to extend a temporary truce in Gaza before it expires on Friday.
Here are their key demands and seemingly irreconcilable positions:
THE BLOCKADE
Hamas and the Palestinian Authority want Israel to end a land and sea blockade imposed on Gaza in 2006 after Hamas captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Israel tightened the blockade in summer 2007 after Hamas forcibly took over Gaza, ousting forces loyal to president Mahmud Abbas.
Israel eased restrictions on imports of food and construction materials in 2010 following international outcry over a botched Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla which was trying break the blockade, which left 10 Turks dead.
Some restrictions were further eased after the last Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza in 2012.
Hamas wants fishing zones extended, and to have a port and an airport.
GAZA BORDER CROSSING WITH EGYPT
The Palestinians want Egypt to reopen the Rafah border crossing, where Israel has no jurisdiction.
Gaza residents have only two ways to access the outside world: through the Rafah crossing with Egypt or through the northern Erez crossing into Israel. There is also a goods terminal at Kerem Shalom, at the southernmost point of the Israel-Gaza border.
There are four other crossing points into Gaza which have been closed for years: Sufa in the south, Kissufim in central Gaza and Karni and Nahal Oz in the north. The Palestinians want all of them reopened.
Egypt has kept Rafah closed since the July 2013 army overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement was a close ally of Hamas.
Relations between Egypt and Hamas have collapsed since Morsi's demise. The new regime in Egypt, one of only two Arab countries that have a peace treaty with Israel, says it has destroyed more than 1,600 cross-border smuggling tunnels leading from Gaza into the Sinai Peninsula.
DEMILITARISATION
Israel says it is ready to ease the blockade only if its security needs are guaranteed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the de-militarisation of the Gaza Strip and conditioned support for reconstruction on the disarmament of Hamas and other militant groups.
Hamas has flatly refused.
Netanyahu wants strict controls on goods crossing into Gaza and international oversight on materials imported for reconstruction to ensure that Hamas cannot rebuild a complex network of cross-border tunnels used for infiltrating the Israeli south.
PRISONERS
Hamas wants Israel to free around 60 prisoners, who were released in a prisoner swap deal in 2011 then re-arrested in June after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered in the West Bank.
They are also asking for the release of 37 Palestinian MPs who have been arrested by Israel over the years, all but two of them Hamas members.
They are also asking for the release of scores of Palestinian MPs who have been arrested by Israel over the years.
Israel has refuses to release them.
ROLE OF PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation president Mahmoud Abbas are officially negotiating as one in Cairo. In April, Hamas signed a unity agreement with the PLO, which is dominated by Fatah and which has been at odds with Hamas for years. The reconciliation saw the former rivals setting up a consensus government that took office in June, ending seven years of separate administrations.
Israel wants Abbas's security forces to retake control of Gaza and deploy on the Palestinian side of the Egyptian border crossing and for international donor money to be dispersed through Abbas.
That could amount to a U-turn for Netanyahu who has so far refused to cooperate with the unity government on grounds that it was backed by Hamas.
AFP
Thu Aug 07 2014
Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation president Mahmoud Abbas are officially negotiating as one in Cairo truce talks. - Filepic
Maya Karin belajar tarian tango demi 'The Experts'
Walaupun babak tarian Tango hanya muncul sekitar lima minit dalam filem 'The Experts', penyanyi dan pelakon, Maya Karin memberi sepenuh komitmen agar dapat menyempurnakan gerak tarian yang terkenal di
Tekad kerajaan Madani laksana rasionalisasi subsidi
Pengarah dan Penganalisis, Research Institute for Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore (ITS)
Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Dr. Md Shukri Shuib berkongsi pandangan beliau berkenaan reformasi ekonomi menerusi penyasaran subsidi susulan Perutusan Negara oleh Perdana Menteri pada Selasa.
Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Dr. Md Shukri Shuib berkongsi pandangan beliau berkenaan reformasi ekonomi menerusi penyasaran subsidi susulan Perutusan Negara oleh Perdana Menteri pada Selasa.
Imigresen tahan 15 wanita warga asing di pusat hiburan
Mereka terdiri daripada warga Thailand, Indonesia dan Vietnam berusia antara 25 hingga 30 tahun.
Perkasa PMKS melalui sistem kawalan dalaman
Kupasan bersama Profesor Madya Sekolah Perniagaan dan Ekonomi, UPM, Profesor Madya Dr Mazlina Mustapha.
Persidangan Nikkei 2024: Kepimpinan Asia dalam ketidaktentuan dunia
Amir Fareed Rahim, Pengarah Strategi KRA Group berkongsi antara jangkaan perbincangan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pada Persidangan Antarabangsa ke-29 mengenai Masa Depan Asia (Persidangan Nikkei).
BNPL: Strategi mengurus perbelanjaan tanpa bebanan tambahan
Kebanyakan pengguna BNPL adalah golongan muda dan berpendapatan rendah dengan anggaran 44% pengguna berusia 18 hingga 30 tahun, menurut BNM, bagaimana kumpulan ini dapat mengurus perbelanjaan mereka menggunakan BNPL tanpa menambah tekanan risiko kewangan yang lain?
Kupasan bersama Pengarah Financial Faiz, Faiz Azmi.
Kupasan bersama Pengarah Financial Faiz, Faiz Azmi.
Dua maut, seorang cedera, kereta terbabas dalam parit
Kemalangan melibatkan sebuah kereta jenis Proton Iswara terbabas ke dalam parit dan melibatkan tiga orang mangsa.
Makkah Route: Bukti keyakinan Arab Saudi kepada Malaysia
Pelaksanaan inisiatif Makkah Route untuk kali keenam membuktikan pengiktirafan antarabangsa dan keyakinan pihak Arab Saudi terhadap Tabung Haji.
TH peruntuk 30 juta riyal untuk kos makanan jemaah haji tahun ini
Sebanyak SAR30 juta diperuntukkan bagi kos penyediaan dua juta pek makanan kepada 31,600 jemaah sepanjang musim haji tahun ini.
'Jemaah haji ialah VIP, perlu dilayan sebaiknya' - Cef Anas
Cef Anas anggap tugas memasak untuk 31,600 jemaah Malaysia di Tanah Suci sebagai jihadnya.
WHO gesa Israel tarik balik sekatan bantuan ke Gaza
Saluran utama untuk bantuan perubatan ke enklaf dari Mesir telah terputus.
Tentera Israel terus mengganas di Jabalia, Rafah
Serangan serentak Israel di Semenanjung Gaza bulan ini telah menyebabkan penghijrahan baharu ratusan ribu rakyat Palestin.
Ireland umum iktiraf negara Palestin
Pengumuman itu dijangka akan dibuat serentak dengan beberapa negara anggota Kesatuan Eropah (EU) lain iaitu Sepanyol, Slovenia dan Malta.
PM Anwar ulangi gesaannya untuk AS hentikan keganasan Israel di Gaza
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mengulangi gesaannya supaya Amerika Syarikat (AS) melakukan apa sahaja yang diperlukan untuk menghentikan keganasan Israel di Gaza.
'Zon kemanusiaan' Israel suatu pembohongan, tiada tempat selamat di Gaza - UNRWA
Dakwaan rejim Israel bahawa penduduk Gaza boleh berpindah ke 'zon selamat' atau 'zon kemanusiaan' ialah satu pembohongan.
Blockout 2024: 'Semua pihak jangan ambil tindakan ekstrem' - Menteri agama
Semua pihak diseru supaya tidak mengambil tindakan ekstrem termasuk memfitnah, mencaci dan mengugut dalam menunjukkan tanda solidariti kepada rakyat Palestin.
Pemimpin Israel berpecah kerana tadbir urus Gaza pasca perang
Netanyahu juga berada di bawah tekanan Washington untuk mengakhiri konflik dengan segera.
Al-Mawasi 'neraka' ciptaan rejim Zionis
Lebih 400,000 penduduk Gaza kini berlindung di al-Mawasi tanpa mengetahui muslihat sebenar rejim Zionis menempatkan mereka di situ.
Rejim Zionis mara ke Jabalia, antara kem pelarian terbesar
Lokasi operasi rejim itu tertumpu di Jabalia, salah satu daripada lapan kem pelarian terbesar di Semenanjung Gaza.
Angka korban rakyat Palestin di Gaza hampiri 35,400 orang
Sekurang-kurangnya 35,386 rakyat Palestin terbunuh dalam serangan berterusan Israel di Semenanjung Gaza sejak 7 Okt tahun lepas, kata Kementerian Kesihatan di wilayah yang terkepung itu pada Sabtu.