RAMALLAH, West Bank, 13 January 2008 — The Head of Palestinian Civil Affaires Commission, Hussein Al-Sheikh, yesterday said that Israeli authorities have approved family unification files of 7,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
“This is the second list from a number of Palestinian families pending approval,” said Sheikh in a press statement, adding that “the names will be published in local media outlets within a few days.”
He added that his commission began the preparation of the third list and that the Israeli authorities promised to reconsider the cases of more than 50,000 families that applied for reunification from the Palestinian territories.
Sheikh said that the list was supposed to be approved before Eid Al-Adha but was postponed due to Israeli obstacles which were resolved during the meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last Tuesday.
Israel approved family unification files of 3,500 Palestinians from the West Bank last October but rejected family unification files related to the residents of Gaza after the Jewish state declared Gaza a “hostile entity.”
Family reunification is one of the most sensitive social issues in the Palestinian territories. Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza Strip often get married to Palestinian refugees living in Jordan or other Arab states.
In another development, Palestinian Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs Ashraf Al-Ajrami denied yesterday knowledge of details of talks between Israel and Hamas on a prisoner exchange deal over captive Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. Ajrami said that the Palestinian Authority has no role in the expected swap, adding Hamas and some Arab mediators, mainly from Egypt and Qatar, were involved in the debates.
Meanwhile, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat yesterday ruled out the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state in 2008, as US President George W. Bush announced during the region, saying a peace deal with Israel was expected within year-end. Erekat said that “in 2008, we expect a peace deal specifying the core final-status issues and how to begin dealing with them.”
The Palestinian Authority, which renewed peace talks with Israel last month, counts on an active US role in pushing forward the slow-paced negotiations. “The success to reach such a deal is subject to the Israeli government’s capability to stop the settlement buildings, remove checkpoints, stop the offensive and engage in serious negotiations,” Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio.
Bush announced the activation of a US, Israeli and Palestinian committee to oversee the implementation of the Road Map peace plan, which envisions a Palestinian statehood living alongside Israel, Erekat said.
