Abbas refuses to halt peace talks with Israel
MAHMOUD Abbas, the Palestinian president, yesterday dismissed calls to cancel the resumption of peace talks as a protest against Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
The negotiations are a direct follow-up to last month’s peace conference hosted by the US president, George Bush, but in the Arab view construction work has already undermined the value of the talks.
The expansion at Har Homa, or Jebel Abu Ghneim, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, despite Israel promising a settlement freeze, “closes the negotiations before they even open”, said Jamil Majdalawi, a legislator for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
“If we accept this, then there is no point having negotiations on Jerusalem or settlements,” he said. “Abbas should understand that in the face of expanding settlements and aggression against our people, the proper thing to do would be stop negotiations.”
Israeli tanks and bulldozers backed by attack aircraft moved into the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, killing four militants in what the army said was an operation against “terrorist infrastructure.”
Residents said at least 30 tanks and bulldozers took part, but the military said only ten tanks were sent in. Troops took over a main road between Khan Yunis and Rafah over a 2.5-mile stretch of territory.
Palestinian officials said the first session of negotiations in seven years would be confined to formation of committees and to discussion of the Israeli plans to add 307 housing units on occupied territory between Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
The Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said yesterday the talks are dealing with complex issues and Israel is “dedicated to making every effort” so that the negotiations succeed.
However, international criticism of the new construction, which has included a mild but rare US reproach, intensified. Abdullah Gul, the Turkish foreign minister, said the new settlement plan “shocked the whole world”, while Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, said it contradicts “the basis and principles of the Annapolis peace conference”.
Mr Abbas said at the Annapolis meeting that they would aim to reach an agreement on all outstanding issues of the conflict by the end of 2008.
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