By Abraham Rabinovich, For The Straits Times

JERUSALEM: - A 'mega-truce' proposal that would end Gaza's isolation, restore Palestinian unity and expedite a long- stalled prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas has been put on the table by Egypt.

The ambitious proposal, according to Tel Aviv daily Yediot Ahronot, has been presented to the parties with a July 7 take-it-or-leave-it deadline.

According to the report, the plan was one of the issues on the agenda when Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak met the Egyptian leadership in Cairo yesterday. His visit was reportedly aimed at looking into ways to move ahead in peace talks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed the principle of a Palestinian state for the first time, albeit demilitarised and with no control over its own airspace.

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