JERUSALEM, 24 January 2005 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was confident yesterday that the armed factions would soon call a formal cease-fire as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon acknowledged a respite in attacks from Palestinian side.
While militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad expressed a willingness to halt attacks if Israel made a reciprocal move, sources close to their talks with Abbas over the past five days said a “cooling down” period was already in place.
“The Palestinian national dialogue has made very significant progress and we will reach an agreement concerning this cease-fire very soon,” Abbas told Palestinian television. But the newly elected Palestinian president also urged Israel to show flexibility by calling a halt to its military operations and freeing Palestinian prisoners.
“There are also responsibilities on the Israeli side,” he said. “They should put an end to attacks against our people and cities and villages, stop going after our wanted people, return people who have been deported to their hometowns and give priority to the prisoner issue.” He said he expected Sharon to hold talks soon, either with him or with his Premier Ahmed Qorei.
The discussions would focus first on the “implementation of the first phase of the road map,” the internationally drafted peace blueprint which has made next to no progress since it was unveiled in mid-2003.
They would then tackle Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this year.
Abbas’ comments echoed spokesmen for both Hamas and Jihad who said that the ball was now in Israel’s court.
“Our position is that the Israeli occupation should first commit itself to a cease-fire. After that we have no objections about dealing with this subject positively,” said Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri. Israel had to give “a clear commitment to stop their aggressions against our people”, Abu Zuhri said, conditioning any cease-fire on the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Khaled Al-Batsh, one of Jihad’s leaders in the Gaza Strip, also said that any cease-fire agreement was conditional on “the release of the prisoners, and an end to the assassinations and incursions”.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a group linked to Abbas’ Fatah faction, said Saturday that its member cells were prepared to halt attacks, but again on condition that prisoners be freed and Israel end its military operations in the occupied territories. A source close to the talks between Abbas and the factions in Gaza City confirmed that there had been an agreement to curb attacks temporarily. — With input from agencies
