BizarroCub
2005-01-24, 12:44 PM
Did I call it or did I call it?
Islamists halt attacks on Israel
Abbas seeks pledge from Sharon to win lasting ceasefire
Chris McGreal in Gaza City
Monday January 24, 2005
The Guardian
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have agreed to suspend attacks on Israel in order to give the new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, time to secure international guarantees for a comprehensive ceasefire that would end more than four years of intifada.
Mr Abbas told Palestinian television yesterday that it was "essential" that Israel reciprocate by ending its targeting of armed Islamist groups. He said he had made "significant" progress in talks with Hamas and Islamic Jihad and expected to reach a comprehensive agreement with them soon on an array of political and security issues that would effectively end their war on Israel.
Mr Abbas's principal negotiator with Hamas, Ziad Abu-Amr, yesterday said the armed Islamist factions pledged to hold off from attacks while the Palestinian leader attempted to secure assurances of Israeli reciprocity, and negotiates final terms of a deal to bring the groups into the political process.
"There is a Palestinian tranquillisation. This is a Palestinian initiative intended to be a prelude to a ceasefire but there have to be conditions for a ceasefire," said Mr Abu-Amr. "There has to be reciprocity [from Israel] and that means no attacks on Palestinians, no incursions or chasing militants."
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has said "quiet will be met with quiet". But the army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon, told the Israeli cabinet yesterday that the military would continue operations against Palestinian militants in those areas where Palestinian security forces are not operating, which includes much of the West Bank.
Mr Sharon remained in a threatening mood yesterday after moving his weekly cabinet meeting to the Israeli town of Sderot where a 17-year-old girl died last week after being hit by shrapnel from a Hamas rocket as she shielded her younger brother.
"We do not know whether a real change has occurred in the situation. We hope so," said Mr Sharon. "One thing is clear. If the terrorism resumes, we shall act according to a cabinet decision that has been taken [to attack Gaza]".
Mr Abbas is expected to leave Gaza City this morning after five days of negotiations with the Islamist groups and ahead of a planned visit to Europe to seek foreign, particularly American, involvement in securing commitments from Israel. The Palestinian leader wants to put a halt to Palestinian violence as a test of the Israeli government's commitment to resume negotiations if the conflict ends.
"It's important that the Palestinians come up with a position that throws the ball into the Israeli court," said Mr Abu-Amr. "If the Israelis don't want to reciprocate, there won't be a ceasefire. If the Israelis continue with their same rules of engagement, the ceasefire can't continue. What counts is the substance."
Washington's Middle East special envoy, William Burns, is expected in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo next week. A US official said he would be lending American weight to any understandings between Mr Abbas and the Islamist groups that end the attacks on Israel.
The Palestinians also want the US to monitor Israeli actions to ensure that Mr Sharon does not use relatively small breaches of the ceasefire, perhaps by renegade Palestinian factions, as a pretext to resume attacks on the Gaza strip.
The Israeli army carried out raids on Saturday night in which four wanted Palestinian men were arrested in Nablus and near Hebron. The military's continued detention of Palestinians, and more specifically their killing when they resisted arrest, was an important factor in the collapse of a 2003 ceasefire after 51 days.
Mr Abu-Amr said he believes the Israeli prime minister has a short-term political interest in dampening down the violence because he does not want to carry out his plan to pull Jewish settlers out of the Gaza Strip under fire, which would appear as a victory for Hamas. But he remains sceptical about Israeli intent.
"I know how they dealt with [Mr Abbas] when he was prime minister [in 2003]. It's not that they didn't help him, it's that they undermined him. Sharon didn't want negotiations then. I'm not sure he wants to negotiate now."
Islamists halt attacks on Israel
Abbas seeks pledge from Sharon to win lasting ceasefire
Chris McGreal in Gaza City
Monday January 24, 2005
The Guardian
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have agreed to suspend attacks on Israel in order to give the new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, time to secure international guarantees for a comprehensive ceasefire that would end more than four years of intifada.
Mr Abbas told Palestinian television yesterday that it was "essential" that Israel reciprocate by ending its targeting of armed Islamist groups. He said he had made "significant" progress in talks with Hamas and Islamic Jihad and expected to reach a comprehensive agreement with them soon on an array of political and security issues that would effectively end their war on Israel.
Mr Abbas's principal negotiator with Hamas, Ziad Abu-Amr, yesterday said the armed Islamist factions pledged to hold off from attacks while the Palestinian leader attempted to secure assurances of Israeli reciprocity, and negotiates final terms of a deal to bring the groups into the political process.
"There is a Palestinian tranquillisation. This is a Palestinian initiative intended to be a prelude to a ceasefire but there have to be conditions for a ceasefire," said Mr Abu-Amr. "There has to be reciprocity [from Israel] and that means no attacks on Palestinians, no incursions or chasing militants."
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has said "quiet will be met with quiet". But the army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon, told the Israeli cabinet yesterday that the military would continue operations against Palestinian militants in those areas where Palestinian security forces are not operating, which includes much of the West Bank.
Mr Sharon remained in a threatening mood yesterday after moving his weekly cabinet meeting to the Israeli town of Sderot where a 17-year-old girl died last week after being hit by shrapnel from a Hamas rocket as she shielded her younger brother.
"We do not know whether a real change has occurred in the situation. We hope so," said Mr Sharon. "One thing is clear. If the terrorism resumes, we shall act according to a cabinet decision that has been taken [to attack Gaza]".
Mr Abbas is expected to leave Gaza City this morning after five days of negotiations with the Islamist groups and ahead of a planned visit to Europe to seek foreign, particularly American, involvement in securing commitments from Israel. The Palestinian leader wants to put a halt to Palestinian violence as a test of the Israeli government's commitment to resume negotiations if the conflict ends.
"It's important that the Palestinians come up with a position that throws the ball into the Israeli court," said Mr Abu-Amr. "If the Israelis don't want to reciprocate, there won't be a ceasefire. If the Israelis continue with their same rules of engagement, the ceasefire can't continue. What counts is the substance."
Washington's Middle East special envoy, William Burns, is expected in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo next week. A US official said he would be lending American weight to any understandings between Mr Abbas and the Islamist groups that end the attacks on Israel.
The Palestinians also want the US to monitor Israeli actions to ensure that Mr Sharon does not use relatively small breaches of the ceasefire, perhaps by renegade Palestinian factions, as a pretext to resume attacks on the Gaza strip.
The Israeli army carried out raids on Saturday night in which four wanted Palestinian men were arrested in Nablus and near Hebron. The military's continued detention of Palestinians, and more specifically their killing when they resisted arrest, was an important factor in the collapse of a 2003 ceasefire after 51 days.
Mr Abu-Amr said he believes the Israeli prime minister has a short-term political interest in dampening down the violence because he does not want to carry out his plan to pull Jewish settlers out of the Gaza Strip under fire, which would appear as a victory for Hamas. But he remains sceptical about Israeli intent.
"I know how they dealt with [Mr Abbas] when he was prime minister [in 2003]. It's not that they didn't help him, it's that they undermined him. Sharon didn't want negotiations then. I'm not sure he wants to negotiate now."