JERUSALEM, 25 January 2005 — In a move Palestinians said clouded new President Mahmoud Abbas’ efforts to revive peacemaking, Israel yesterday resumed building one of the most controversial parts of its West Bank wall, deep in occupied land. Israel’s attorney-general approved construction of the 4-km (2.5 mile) segment along a new route near the large Jewish settlement of Ariel after residents of the adjacent Palestinian village of Salfit petitioned a court against land expropriation. “How we are going to convince our people and factions that we are trying to end Israeli occupation while Israel is imposing facts on the ground,” Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said.
“This will have a deep and negative impact on our efforts to reach a cease-fire.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wrapped up a week of truce talks with militants in Gaza yesterday without any formal agreement but with violence in the area sharply reduced. “Differences have been narrowed down very much, and I hope to God that we reach a final agreement in the very near future,” Abbas told reporters.
Israel has built about a third of the planned 600-km barrier, which it says is necessary to keep bombers away from its cities. The International Court of Justice has said it is illegal to construct the network of razor wire-tipped electronic fences and concrete walls on occupied land. Palestinians call the project a land grab aimed at denying them a viable state.
An Israeli court had ordered work on the wall around the Ariel enclave halted last June after the appeal was filed and then asked the sides to resolve the issue through negotiations. Changes were subsequently made to the route — one of the most disputed because it dips deep into occupied territory — although Salfit’s mayor denied yesterday reaching any deal with Israeli authorities.
Mushir Al-Masri, a spokesman for the Hamas group in Gaza, condemned the wall but stopped short of saying the new construction work could disrupt cease-fire efforts.
An end to more than four years of bloodshed is key to revival of a US-backed peace road map envisaging a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.
“It is clear that there is calm on the ground as part of a Palestinian initiative,” said Ziad Abu Amr, a Palestinian Authority negotiator with militant groups in Gaza. “This calm can be a preamble to a truce if Israel agrees to the Palestinian conditions,” he told reporters.
Palestinian demands on Israel include a halt to attacks on militants and release of Palestinian prisoners in its jails.
Israel had said it would not agree to a formal cease-fire with militant groups, some of which advocate its destruction, but would respond in kind to a cessation of violence.
Israeli National Security Adviser Giora Eiland signaled the military would largely hold off on raids for the time being while Abbas, due back in the West Bank city of Ramallah later in the day, pursued a truce.
“I think that in the next few days everything that is not absolutely essential to do (right away) can be delayed,” he told Army Radio, referring to military operations.
Abbas, elected on Jan. 9 on a platform calling for an end to armed struggle in pursuit of statehood, was due to go later in the week to Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab countries that have made peace with Israel, to report on his cease-fire moves. “Now the ball is in the Israeli court and if the international community really seeks calm and stability they have to press Israel to agree to halt its attacks in order to resume the political process,” Abu Amr said.
— With input from agencies
