SIXTH OF OCTOBER CITY, Egypt, 18 March 2005 — Palestinian factions agreed yesterday to continue an open-ended calm tied to Israel’s commitment to release Palestinian prisoners and halt attacks. Israel responded by saying it would not launch any military offensive in the occupied territories as long as Palestinians observed the calm and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called the Palestinian declaration “a positive first step.”
The finial communiqué, read by the Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in the presence of 13 Palestinian factions, said all the parties involved agreed to extend the calm in place since February if Israel meets the commitments made at the Feb. 8 Sharm El-Sheikh summit. “Israel has to stop the aggression and all forms of attack against the Palestinians and release the Palestinian detainees,” said Suleiman.
It did not set a specific time limit for the truce but Hamas official Mohammad Nazzal told reporters: “What was agreed upon today is calm until the end of this year as a maximum period of time in exchange for an Israeli commitment to withdraw from cities and release of prisoners.”
But officials of Fatah and Islamic Jihad said they saw the truce as open-ended, provided Israel met the conditions.
“The final formula does not specify a time frame,” Anwar Abu Taha of Islamic Jihad said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas needs the truce to hold so he can persuade Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory, free prisoners and take other steps to make life easier for ordinary Palestinians.
Other Palestinian demands include an end to Israeli settlement activity in occupied territory and work on the barrier Israel is building through the West Bank.
Abbas says a period of calm should lead to the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks on an independent Palestinian state.
The Palestinian factions also agreed to put the Palestinian house in order. “All the attendees agreed on activating and developing the Palestine Liberation Organization that will include all the Palestinian factions... therefore, it was agreed that a committee will be established to put the basis and rules for this organization,” Suleiman said, pointing out that the election law will be amended in order to allow the factions to participate in the legislative council and have a say in decision-making. He said the Palestinian groups agreed on forbidding the use of weapons in dealing with internal disputes.
Nabil Abu Rudeina, the media adviser to Abbas, said the Cairo declaration is a historic chance for peace in the region. “We agreed on a cooling off period but more importantly we are waiting to see a change in the attitude of Israel and the United States. We will wait and see how Israel will react to the finial communiqué,” he told Arab News.
In Jerusalem, an aide to Sharon said: “At the Sharm El-Sheikh summit, Israel agreed not to launch offensive operations as long as there is a complete end in violence on the Palestinian side and we are sticking to that commitment.”
Sharon welcomed the agreement but said the factions must eventually be disarmed in the interests of peace. Sharon’s office said the prime minister told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak by telephone: “The arrangement reached in Cairo is a positive first step.”
The Israeli statement said Sharon noted the deal was an interim agreement and that progress in the peace process hinged on disarming the factions. “The terrorist organizations cannot continue to exist as armed groups and certainly not as terrorist organizations,” Sharon was quoted as saying.
The Damascus-based leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal said Hamas only agreed on a clam down period, not a cease-fire. “A couple of months ago we ourselves agreed on a cooling down period because we felt that the current circumstances required that but the Israeli side did not listen to us,” Meshaal said. “Thus we did not discuss a truce because a truce means that both parties have to fulfill their commitments and the Israelis did not do that,” Meshaal told reporters before the final communiqué was issued.
Palestinian officials said the leaders of Damascus-based Palestinian groups discussed the possibility of moving to Gaza after a planned Israeli withdrawal.
Nayef Hawatmeh, head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said he was happy about the outcome of the Cairo talks. “This will give us encouragement to continue our collaboration with all the Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordon.
In a separate development, Egypt returned an ambassador to Israel yesterday more than four years after Cairo recalled its envoy at the outset of a Palestinian revolt. The restoration of full diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt underscored improving ties ahead of Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip later this year and a de facto cease-fire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I am very proud that President Hosni Mubarak granted me the responsibility for representing Egypt in Israel,” Mohamed Assem said on arrival at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz. “Like every ambassador in every country I aspire to develop the relations between our two nations,” he said.
Haaretz quoted him as saying he was bringing a message of peace and cooperation and hoped that the overall Israeli-Arab conflict could be resolved in a just manner.
Egypt had pledged at the Feb. 8 summit to send back an ambassador to Israel.
