As the clock ticks down to the next clash between Israel and Hamas, Egypt has been tapped for what Israel describes as “a last-ditch mediation attempt” to reach a long-term cease-fire arrangement between Israel and Gaza for the umpteenth time since Israel’s 2005 disengagement from the enclave.
The mediation effort officially launched at a Sept. 13 summit in the Red Sea town of Sharm el-Sheikh between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. At the same time, one or two rockets were being fired nightly at Israeli communities along the Gaza border.