Israel, Hamas trade cows for calm as part of truce

Since the cease-fire deal was reached nearly three weeks ago, the trickle of extra goods has barely made a difference in the daily lives of 1.4 million Gazans, who have been cut off from the world since the violent Hamas takeover a year ago. Gazans are struggling with frequent blackouts, soaring food prices and fuel rationing of five gallons per driver a week.

The truce remains shaky and the two sides seem unable to move forward. Still, weary residents cling to the hope that this deal will stick where many others failed.

"We need to breathe," said Gaza trucker Shawki Abu Shanab, 40, who stretches scarce diesel for his flatbed truck with motor and cooking oil and has no spare parts to fix worn tires and broken lights.

Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, Gaza's Hamas rulers are to halt rocket and mortar fire on Israeli border communities and Israel is to increase the flow of goods into Gaza. Israel had largely sealed the territory after the Hamas takeover, allowing only basic food and medicine to enter. Later, an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants two years ago is to be freed in a prisoner swamp under the deal.

On Tuesday, each side blamed the other for lack of progress.

Hamas has not reined in all militants, particularly those from rival groups, and the Israeli army says 15 rockets and mortars have been fired since the truce took effect June 19, including three mortars Tuesday. Lt. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said Hamas' failure is slowing a broader opening of the crossings.

Hamas says Israel closed border crossings for seven of 17 days of post-truce operations. "The calm is not shaky. The Israeli commitment to the calm is shaky," said Said Siyam, a senior Hamas official, before heading to Cairo for more truce talks with Egyptian officials.

And despite some attempts to defuse tensions, both sides have stuck to pre-truce behavior.

In Gaza, an explosion went off Tuesday in a Hamas military training camp, an apparent "work accident" that killed two militants and appeared to confirm Israeli fears that the group is using a lull to rearm. In the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, Israel declared a shopping mall a Hamas front and ordered it shut down by August.