Tag: israel palestine peace talks
U.S.: Palestinian Reconciliation May ‘Complicate’ U.S. Peace Efforts

U.S.: Palestinian Reconciliation May ‘Complicate’ U.S. Peace Efforts

Washington (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday warned that a deal to form a Palestinian unity government could seriously hamper its efforts to forge a peace deal with Israel.

Any Palestinian government must commit “unambiguously” to the principles of non-violence and to the existence of Israel, said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, restating a long-held U.S. position.

“Absent a clear commitment to those principles, this could seriously complicate our efforts to extend the negotiations,” she told reporters. “It’s hard to see how Israel can be expected to negotiate with a government that does not believe in its right to exist.”

Washington was both “disappointed” and “troubled” by Wednesday’s announcement of a rapprochement between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) — internationally recognized as the sole representative of the Palestinian people — and the Islamist Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip, she added.

AFP Photo/Mahmud Hams

Palestinian Factions Fatah, Hamas Reconcile, To Form Unity Government

Palestinian Factions Fatah, Hamas Reconcile, To Form Unity Government

By Batsheva Sobelman and Rushdi Abu Alouf, Los Angeles Times

GAZA CITY — The two main rival factions of Palestinian politics and society announced a reconciliation deal Wednesday that would mend a seven-year rift by forming a unity government and holding new elections.

Following two days of discussions between delegations of Fatah and Hamas, leaders of the groups announced the agreement at a joint news conference.

“This is the good news to tell our people: The era of division is over,” Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh declared. Fatah leader Azzam al-Ahmad said the sides aimed at forming a national unity government within five weeks.

The transitional government is planned to be based on professionals and independent political figures, with no members of either political group.

The reconciliation agreement calls for elections for parliament and presidency to be held around six months after the unity government is formed.

Palestinian government was torn asunder in 2007, when Hamas forcefully wrested control of the Gaza Strip from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, after the Islamist militant movement won elections the year before.

Since then, Gaza has been ruled by a Hamas government headed by Haniyeh, with the West Bank under control of the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas.

The divide has crippled Palestinian politics for years. The current push for unity comes at a time both sides need bolstering. The isolation of Hamas and Gaza has deepened as Egypt’s new government has given it the cold shoulder, and Fatah is divided on how to handle the push for Palestinian statehood, among other things.

Reconciliation agreements between the rival groups have been reached in the past but not implemented.

Israel rejects Hamas as a terrorist group. The international community has demanded Hamas denounce violence and recognize Israel and past Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Abbas “must choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas, a murderous terror organization that calls for Israel’s destruction and is defined as a terror organization by the U.S. and EU. This evening, while talks to extend the negotiations are still being held, Abu Mazen has chosen Hamas and not peace. Anyone choosing Hamas does not want peace.”

The statement from Netanyahu’s office announced the meeting of the negotiating teams scheduled for the evening had been canceled. The teams had been struggling to find a formula that would allow extending troubled peace talks about to expire next week with no agreement and deep discord.

As the Palestinian accord was being announced, Israel’s air force struck targets in Gaza, injuring at least six people, according to Palestinian reports. Israel’s military said the strike was aimed at it stopping what it described as imminent plans to launch rockets at Israel.

Later Wednesday, several rockets were launched toward southern Israel. No injuries were reported.

AFP Photo/Mahmud Hams

Israelis, Palestinians Struggle For Way Forward As Deadline Nears

Israelis, Palestinians Struggle For Way Forward As Deadline Nears

By Batsheva Sobelman, Los Angeles Times

JERUSALEM — With Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations still deadlocked a week before their current round expires, negotiating teams met Tuesday with U.S. envoy Martin Indyk in Jerusalem to discuss extending the troubled talks.

Nine months of meetings between Israeli and Palestinian teams have yielded little agreement, and both sides’ tough positions have stymied the effort to secure a framework for working toward a two-state solution to the conflict.

The U.S.-mediated negotiations broke down last month over Israel’s delay in releasing a group of Palestinian prisoners as promised. That was followed by a Palestinian request to the United Nations to join more than a dozen international treaties, a move opposed by Israel.

Both sides have indicated they wish to continue the talks but have terms. The Palestinians this month drew up a list of conditions, including Israeli recognition of Palestinian borders along lines that predate the 1967 Middle East War and of East Jerusalem as the Palestinians’ capital. Israel rejected the conditions, as it has long done, and has so far avoided concrete discussion of borders.

Talks broke down, though Israel reportedly was considering a deal that would free the promised prisoners and an additional 400 Palestinians being held and partially freeze settlement construction. The release of Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted in 1987 of spying on the U.S. for Israel and who remains imprisoned in North Carolina, reportedly also was on the table.

The last-stretch efforts came amid recent reports that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was considering dissolving the authority, potentially turning the tables 20 years back and leaving responsibility for millions of West Bank Palestinians to Israel.

On Monday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said such an extreme step would have “serious implications” for American relations with the Palestinians, including future assistance.

In a meeting with Israeli journalists in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, Abbas said talks could continue beyond April 29 if Israel meant to be “serious regarding the political negotiations and the two-state solution.”

He outlined the Palestinians’ basic conditions for continuing the talks. First, Israel would have to release the last group of Palestinian prisoners it promised to release when talks began, including a group of Israeli citizens.

Several members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition have threatened to quit their posts and even the government if Israel agrees to Abbas’ demand that Israel free Arab Israeli citizens jailed for violent crimes against Israelis.

The next condition, Abbas said, is that the talks focus immediately and intensively on determining the border between Israel and a future Palestinian state. During this intensive three-month period, Palestinians will demand a complete freeze on all settlement construction.

Abbas stressed Palestinians’ desire for two states living side by side in peace and security. “We want to end the painful chapter in the history of our two peoples and turn a new leaf for our children,” he told the Israelis.

However, Abbas said, if negotiations fail, the Palestinians will tell Israel that it has “emptied the Palestinian Authority of all content; here it is, take it.”

In that case, Palestinians will peacefully hand over to Israel all civilian and security authority throughout the West Bank and the Israelis will resume full responsibility for all services, he said.

Netanyahu maintains it is the Palestinians who must decide where they’re going.

“They should decide whether they want to disband or have unity, and when they want peace, they should let us know, because we want a genuine peace,” he said Monday. He was referring to unity talks between the rival Palestinian political movements Fatah and Hamas set to start in the Gaza Strip.

The State Department’s Psaki said it was up to both parties to decide the way forward.

“As long as they want to find a way to continue the negotiations, we’re willing to help them do that,” she said.

Psaki said Secretary of State John F. Kerry remained willing to travel to the region to help, though she said she had no plans to announce.

Photo: Acroll via Flickr