RAMALLAH, West Bank, 19 June 2005 — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday urged Palestinians to do much more to rein in militants as she warned time was running out to coordinate Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip. “President Abbas has taken some good concrete steps toward security reform, but of course much more needs to be done, particularly to use actively the security forces to combat lawlessness and to combat terrorism,” Rice told a news conference at the start of her first comprehensive Middle East tour as Washington’s top diplomat.
Rice was speaking hours after a militant from Islamic Jihad was shot dead by Israeli troops while trying to storm a Jewish settlement in Gaza, disrupting an increasingly shaky de facto truce being observed by Palestinian factions.
She also stressed that Washington would continue to boycott the radical Palestinian group Hamas, which is to stand in upcoming Palestinian legislative elections. “The United States has no contacts with Hamas as the United States believes that Hamas is a terrorist organization,” she said. Her comments come after the European Union, which has also blacklisted Hamas as a terrorist group, revealed that it had opened contacts with the Islamist movement following its gains in local polls in the occupied territories.
With her talks focusing on the Gaza withdrawal, she said it was vital that both sides were able to reach agreement on issues related to the pullout such as border control, the distribution of assets and on security roles. “These are all issues that need to be resolved before disengagement can begin,” she said. The issues “are very important ... and must be resolved,” she added.
Abbas told Rice that his government was ready to fully coordinate with Israel on the withdrawal from Gaza following nearly 40 years of occupation, due to begin in mid-August. “We have spoken of our commitment to reforms and peace, and we are totally committed to fully coordinate (with Israel) for a total and clean withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank,” said Abbas.
In Gaza, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian activist who reportedly attacked a Jewish settlement yesterday, the Islamic Jihad group said, claiming responsibility for the assault. The attack on the settlement of Kfar Darom coincided with a visit to Israel and the West Bank by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who earlier told reporters Palestinians must keep to a truce ahead of a planned Israeli pullout from Gaza. Islamic Jihad said one of its member, along with a fighter from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, fired at Kfar Darom in retaliation for recent Israeli raids against militants in the West Bank.
