JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, 6 June 2007 — Israel’s powerful Security Cabinet will discuss this week the possibility of resuming peace talks with Syria, more than seven years after negotiations broke off, an official said yesterday. “The Security Cabinet is to meet today for several hours to take stock of questions relating to Syria,” government spokeswoman Miri Eisin told reporters.
Among the main topics for discussion will be whether Israel should restart peace talks with its neighbor following intelligence reports that Damascus was preparing for war. In recent months, Syrian President Bashar Assad has made several overtures to Israel.
In another development, Hamas and Fatah forces fought a gunbattle yesterday in the Gaza Strip near the strategic Karni commercial crossing, the most serious flare-up in factional fighting in two weeks.
An officer with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Presidential Guard said a “large number” of Hamas fighters attacked a key Presidential Guard position near the crossing, wounding at least one guard member.
Earlier, Israeli tanks and troops left the southern Gaza Strip after a daylong operation targeting militant infrastructure, Palestinian sources and the army said. “Our forces have withdrawn from the south of the Gaza Strip, where they arrested four Palestinians after questioning around 40.”
