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Ghanem Sweilem, spokesman for the terrorist deportees, holds a press conference. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 12, 2005 |
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Hamas will maintain a de facto truce with Israel, but will wait to see how Israel conducts itself before deciding whether to adhere to the official cease-fire Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has declared, a leader of the terror group said Saturday.
Mahmoud Zahar told The Associated Press after Hamas leaders met with Abbas that the group is "committed to what is called 'quietness' " until it sees whether Israel stops military activities, halts its targeted assassinations, and discloses according to what criteria Palestinian prisoners will be released.
"Up to this moment, we are committed to the previous agreement with Mr. Abbas, and we are going to see how the Israelis" will act, Zahar said.
Following his meeting with Hamas, Abbas proceeded to a meeting with the Islamic Jihad terror group. Before that meeting, Dr. Nafed Azzam, an Islamic Jihad leader, said the faction wanted to hear from Abbas whether there were "guarantees and obligations" before deciding about a cease-fire.
The terror groups agreed to the undeclared truce before Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met in Egypt on Tuesday to declare a halt to 4 1/2 years of hostilities.
To accept the cease-fire announced in Egypt, the terror groups have said they want Israel to commit to cease all military activity, withdraw from Palestinian towns and cities it reoccupied since the uprising began, release Palestinian prisoners and return deportees.
And they want Egypt and Jordan, which participated in the Egyptian summit, to guarantee Israel honors the truce.
Abbas met with Hamas leaders just hours after telling dozens of Palestinians exiled during the Palestinian uprising that Israel would let them return to the West Bank -- yet another of the moves the two sides have made recently to try to put more than four years of violence behind them.
Earlier Saturday, Abbas told leaders of his Fatah movement that he has ordered security commanders to crack down on all lawbreakers -- including violators of the truce -- and notified police officers that they, too, must carry out their duties or be fired.
Talks between the two sides on the release of Palestinian prisoners and the return of dozens of Palestinians Israel expelled from the West Bank during the uprising figured prominently in the runup to the cease-fire declaration.
Israel said Saturday it has agreed to repatriate all of the Palestinians it accused of terror activities and deported to the Gaza Strip and Europe. The majority -- 39 of about 55 -- were exiled after a monthlong siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002.
"We promise that they won't be arrested upon their return," an Israeli government official, Raanan Gissin, said. "We are freezing all proceedings against them as long as they refrain from terror activities."
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat confirmed the repatriation agreement.
The Israeli government official said he had no timetable for the return, but one of the exiles, Ghanem Sweilem, told reporters after deportees met with Abbas in Gaza City Saturday that they expect to return home within a week or two.
"Today, we received good news that an agreement was reached with the Israeli side to allow us to return to our cities...each to his home, each to his city, within a short period of time," said Sweilem, who was exiled from his home in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus more than two years ago.
"They have not set a date as of yet, but we have been told that we should be able to return within one or two weeks," he said.
Several Israeli security officials apparently were kept in the dark and continued to deny the existence of such an agreement, despite Gissin's confirmation, Israel National News reported.
Knesset Member Shaul Yahalom (National Religious Party) called the agreement "irresponsible," and the Almagor terror victim organization said it will try to prevent the move which it said will cause a renewal of bloodshed, INN said.
The repatriation of the deportees is part of a larger controversy between Israel and the Palestinians over the release of Palestinian prisoners. Israel has agreed to free 900 of the estimated 8,000 Palestinian prisoners it is holding, but the Palestinians want a broader release and freedom for those imprisoned before the September 1993 peace accords. .
Five hundred of the 900 prisoners are expected to be released soon. A ministerial committee on prisoner releases is to meet Sunday, Israel Radio said.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, Cabinet Secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh and Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Dahlan were meeting Saturday night in Tel Aviv. An Israeli Defense Ministry source said Friday they planned to discuss Israel's planned handover of five West Bank towns, an easing of restrictions on Palestinian travel, and security issues.
The military pullback from five West Bank towns is to take place within less than three weeks.
Israeli has also agreed to lift travel restrictions in parts of the West Bank and abandon several major checkpoints as part of the handover. The easing of restrictions would be a major dividend from the cease-fire for ordinary Palestinians, because the restrictions on the flow of people and goods have caused them severe economic hardship.
The cease-fire has coincided with renewed action on the part of the U.S. to get an internationally backed Mideast peace plan known as the "road map" back on track.
The new U.S. security coordinator for the Middle East, Army Lt. Gen. William E. Ward, is to make his first trip to the region later this month.
In Munich, Germany, NATO's top diplomat said Saturday that the alliance should be ready to play a major role in supporting peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians if asked for help. Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he planned to go to Israel next week, the first such visit by a NATO secretary-general.
The AP contributed to this report.
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