Feltman doubts Gaza talks in Egypt would be successful

NEW YORK, Aug 1 (KUNA) -- UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman on Friday expressed doubt that the peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis called for by Egypt yesterday would be successful.
"I am not sure what the Egyptians are thinking right now. These talks are going to be hard. I myself have a hard time envisioning how these talks would work right now," Feltman told a press conference hours after the 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire collapsed.
He said the chance for success of these talks depended on quiet, on the 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire, "but right now we have escalation instead of ceasefire." On reports that Hamas was surprised to learn that Israel is determined to continue to destroy the tunnels during the ceasefire, Feltman said he is "convinced" Hamas knew that very well.
"Perhaps some will deny that now, but, yes, if was very clear in the diplomacy being done yesterday and was hinted at it in the ceasefire announcement by UN Chief Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"It was very clear that the Israelis were going to continue to try to do destruction of tunnels, and the Israelis have been clear about that publicly. The Israelis never ceased saying that, so I don't think, rightly or wrongly, it should have been any surprise to anyone," he said. (end) sj.hb