GAZA CITY, 19 June 2003 — Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas failed to reach agreement on a cease-fire proposal during a three-hour meeting last night.
“Until now, no decision has been taken by Hamas about a cease-fire,” Hamas official Ismail Haniya said after the meeting, adding that his group would continue its dialogue with Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen.
Hamas spokesman Dr. Mahmud Al-Zahar described the meeting as “very positive”, although he declined to give details of what was discussed.
“This meeting with Abu Mazen was very positive. Abu Mazen brought up several very important issues,” he told reporters after the talks had ended.
But Zahar said the group had yet to make a decision on whether to stop its attacks on Israel after last week’s spasm of violence that left at least 60 Israelis and Palestinians dead.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Parliament voted yesterday in favor of barring Palestinians in the occupied territories from receiving Israeli citizenship, Israeli public radio said.
The bill, which requires two more readings before passage, would not allow a Palestinian in the West Bank or Gaza Strip to gain Israeli nationality through marriage and would block the reunification of families split between Israel and the occupied territories, the radio said. Israeli Arab MP Mohammad Barakeh lambasted the decision as “racist.”
