Isreal: No Gaza deal until security needs met

Netanyahu says there will be no long- term truce
agreed at talks in Cairo without clear answer to
Israeli security needs .
Israel will not agree to any long - term ceasefire
in Gaza at indirect talks in Cairo unless its
security needs are clearly met , Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has said .
His comments came as Egyptian- brokered talks
between Israel and Palestinian factions resumed
on Sunday . A five- day truce between the two
sides is set to expire on Monday night .
"The Israeli delegation in Cairo is acting with a
very clear mandate to stand firmly on Israel 's
security needs , " Netanyahu told ministers at the
start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
"Only if there is a clear answer to Israel ' s
security needs , only then will we agree to reach
an understanding, " he said , as Israel 's
negotiating team made its way back to Cairo for
indirect talks with the Palestinians over a long -
term arrangement to end more than a month of
bloodshed in Gaza .
Al Jazeera 's Kimberly Halkett , reporting from
West Jerusalem, said the prime minister faces
deep divisions within his cabinet on whether to
support plans for a long- term ceasefire
She said hardliners are opposed to any
discussions of the development of a seaport in
Gaza , one of the key demands of the Palestinian
negotiators .
Hamas defiant
In Gaza , Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said
the Palestinians would not back down from their
demands, central of which is a lifting of Israel ' s
eight - year blockade on the enclave , and that
the outcome of the talks was in Israel 's hands.
"We are committed to achieving the Palestinian
demands and there is no way back from this. All
these demands are basic human rights that do
not need this battle or these negotiations, " Abu
Zuhri told the AFP news agency .
"The ball is in the Israeli occupation 's court ."
But Netanyahu warned that Hamas , which he
said had suffered a major military blow, would
not walk away from the Cairo talks with any
political success .
"If Hamas thinks it will make up for its military
losses with a political achievement, it is wrong , "
he said .
"If Hamas thinks that by continuing the steady
trickle of rocket fire it will force us to make
concessions, it is wrong . As long as there is no
quiet , Hamas will continue to suffer heavy blows .
"Hamas knows we have a lot of power but maybe
it thinks we don't have enough determination
and patience , and even there it is wrong , it is
making a big mistake , " he said .
At least 1 , 980 Palestinians have been killed in
Gaza since fighting began, as well as 64 soldiers
and three civilians on the Israeli side .