FRUIT OF VICTORY:

Hamas's political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal said Friday that talks to mediate a truce between Israel and the terror group are progressing "positively" but an agreement has yet to be reached, according to a report in a London-based Arabic paper.

The report, in al-Araby al-Jadeed, was published on Friday as an excerpt of an interview with Mashaal ahead of a full interview that will be available on the paper's website on Saturday.

In the interview, Mashaal enumerated five obstacles standing in the way of a long-term ceasefire with Israel -- reconstruction of the Gaza Strip; removal of the blockade on Gaza and opening of the border crossings; solving an employment crisis involving some 50,000 unemployed residents of the Strip; allowing the construction of a seaport and airport in the Strip; and building water and electricity infrastructures in the territory.

Follow @brothersjudd