RAMALLAH: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner yesterday said that a Middle East peace deal is unlikely by the end of the year amid reports that Palestinian security forces in the West Bank are gearing up to stop Hamas from taking over the West Bank.
The security forces warned that Hamas is gearing toward a military coup in the West Bank to complete what the Islamic group started in the Gaza Strip, the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported yesterday.
The report said that President Mahmoud Abbas’ forces have taken measures to prevent assassinations that Hamas members may conduct against senior officials of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah.
According to the paper, PA forces are operating on an elevated state of alertness throughout the West Bank. This includes thorough ID verification, examining private vehicles and actively pursuing wanted Hamas operatives.
While West Bank was in a state of alertness, Kouchner, on a two-day visit to Israel and the occupied territories, was more forthcoming about a deal being reached by the year-end. “We were supposed to get the document, not a final result but something, before the end of the year. But now we all know it will take a little bit longer,” Kouchner told reporters in the West Bank town of Jenin.
“I don’t know if we will see the Palestinian state before the end of the year, but I know this is absolutely key and necessary — we will get the Palestinian state.” Kouchner made the remarks after meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. He also urged Israelis and Palestinians to continue US-backed negotiations.
Fayyad praised France, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, for its support of US-backed peace talks relaunched last November, calling Kouchner a “friend of the Palestinian people.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian security forces’ vigil continued with many wary of a possible attack by Hamas. “Everything is possible, so we are being very cautious,” Asharq Al-Awsat quoted a senior officer as saying. “The experience in Gaza taught us not to trust them,” another source told the paper.
The report also quoted a Hamas supporter as saying that “the oppression that the security services put on us will not last for long,” adding that Abbas’ security forces “have not learned the lesson from what happened in Gaza.” Hamas, meanwhile, has pledged it will fight back. “It is clear that these security operations are intended to oppress Hamas, but they will only bring about the opposite,” vowed prominent Hamas leader and former Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud Al-Zahar.
