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Keeping the motor running. Hamas supporters rev their engines for the next round of attacks. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 8, 2005 |
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Two key Palestinian terror groups criticized Israeli and Palestinian pledges to end bloodshed, and said they will wait to see what comes next before deciding whether to continue attacks. A Hamas representative said his group is not bound by the truce.
Their remarks came shortly after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared at the summit an end to all military and militant operations.
"The talk about what the leader of the Palestinian Authority called a cessation of acts of violence is not binding on the resistance because this is a unilateral stand and was not the outcome of an intra-Palestinian dialogue as has been agreed previously," Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, told The Associated Press.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, also dismissed the summit, saying "It did not achieve anything. From our people's interests, the Israeli position did not change."
Both Hamas men said it was too early to say whether Hamas would resume its activities against Israelis. "We are going to listen to Mr. Abbas when he returns. We are going to sit down with him, and then we are going to declare our position," Abu Zuhri said.
Hamdan said Hamas' decision will depend on "achievement of a substantial change (in Israel's position) to meet Palestinian demands and conditions."
Nafez Azzam, the top Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, criticized Sharon for failing to explain exactly what he is committing himself to.
"We had mentioned several times before that calm cannot come from one side, and cannot come for free. We will wait for the return of Mr. Abbas, and then we will see," Azzam said.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad are responsible for numerous suicide bombings in Israel and refuse to recognize the state of Israel. Abbas has held talks with them and other militant Palestinian groups in an attempt to convince them to agree to a truce with Israel.
Hamdan said that in order for a truce to succeed, Israel must release Palestinian prisoners and provide "a clear commitment ... to halt all kinds of aggression against the Palestinian people."
"These two conditions were not achieved at the summit," he said. "Overall, I think this summit did not achieve any valuable interest for the Palestinian people."
At the summit, Sharon said "Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere." Hamdan did not specify how that fell short of Hamas' requirement.
Abbas made a similar pledge. "We have agreed on halting all violent actions against Palestinians and Israelis wherever they are," he declared in a statement delivered after the meetings.
Hamdan said since the summit had failed to meet two major Palestinian conditions -- the release of Palestinian prisoners and Israel's commitment to stop all kinds of aggression against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- "there is no change in Hamas' attitude."
Hamdan said agreement had been reached in Abbas' earlier talks with militant groups on "some specific issues" which were not dealt with at the summit.
"Therefore, the situation will remain as it was before (the summit)," he said.
The AP contributed to this report.
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