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Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh, Tuesday (AP)
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| By Associated Press May 23, 2006 |
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Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh restated his demand that Israel withdraw to boundaries it has already rejected, offering in return a long-term ceasefire that falls well short of a formal peace treaty. In a rare interview with an Israeli newspaper, published Tuesday in Haaretz daily, Haniyeh, who heads a government formed by the Islamic militant group Hamas, said Israel must leave all of Judea, Samaria, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, areas it captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
"If Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, peace will prevail and we will implement a ceasefire for many years," he told Haaretz. "Our government is prepared to maintain a long-term cease-fire with Israel."
Although his comments reflected previous statements, the exclusive interview with Israeli reporter Danny Rubinstein, conducted in Haniyeh's south Gaza office, was unusual and was published in Israel hours before Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to outline his plan for a further West Bank withdrawal to President Bush in the White House.
Israel, while accepting the principle of an independent Palestinian state, has said many times that it has no intention of returning to the exact lines it held prior to the 1967 conflict.
Haniyeh: Palestinian fighting will not escalate into civil war
Deadly internal fighting will not escalate into a full-blown civil war, the Hamas prime minister pledged Tuesday, at the start of a high-level meeting of rival Palestinian factions aimed at ending spiraling violence in the Gaza Strip.
The talks came after two weeks of deadly clashes between Hamas militiamen and gunmen linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. The fighting has been fueled by a bitter power struggle between the Hamas government and Abbas. On Monday, in the heaviest battle yet, an aide to the Jordanian ambassador was killed in crossfire and 11 people were wounded in Gaza City.
In Judea and Samaria, the commander of Hamas militants, blamed for attacks that killed nearly 80 Israelis, surrendered to Israeli troops after emerging from his besieged hideout stripped to his underwear. The fugitive, Ibrahim Hamed, 41, was armed but gave himself up after troops threatened to collapse the hideout on top of him.
Hamas has observed an informal truce since February 2005, but the arrest of the top fugitve was seen as a blow to Hamas' morale. Hamed, a university graduate, became the West Bank commander of the Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, in December 2003.
Israeli army Col. Amir Abulafiyeh, who oversaw the capture, described the fugitive as "creative and cruel" in plotting attacks, including on an Israeli fuel depot, Israel's rail system, a university cafeteria and a pool hall.
In Gaza City, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, leaders of Fatah and heads of smaller Palestinian factions met Tuesday to try to end the internal fighting.
Tensions have been soaring in Gaza since the Hamas government last week deployed a 3,000-strong force of Hamas militants. The new militia poses a challenge to the Fatah-dominated Palestinian security forces. Armed men from both camps have been patrolling the streets in large numbers, often taking up positions close to each other.
Haniyeh said Tuesday he was certain the fighting would not spin out of control.
"We are concerned about ending this crisis. The term civil war does not exist in our dictionary," Haniyeh said at the start of the meeting. "I assure our people that we can overcome these incidents. These incidents have taken place before and we have overcome the similar incidents."
Palestinian factions have in the past been able to pull back from the brink of widespread internal fighting. However, with Hamas' rise to power after January parliament elections, both political camps appeared to have new means and motives to try to settle their differences by force.
Some in Fatah are confident they will emerge victorious and be returned to power, or at least cause enough chaos to bring down Hamas. Hamas officials believe the new force is the only way they can assert power and gain respect after Abbas seized control of the Palestinian security branches.
Monday's fighting created new complications for Hamas. TV footage strongly suggests that the aide to the Jordanian ambassador was killed by Hamas fire, and Jordan has demanded a quick investigation. Tensions between Hamas and Jordan had been high even before the incident, with Jordan accusing the group of trying to smuggle weapons into the kingdom and plotting attacks.
The body of the aide, Khaled Radaida, 55, was flown to Jordan for burial on Tuesday.
The internal fighting comes at a time when the Hamas government is getting increasingly desperate for cash. Western sanctions have left it broke and unable to pay the salaries of 165,000 civil servants for the past two months.
Arab and Muslim countries have donated tens of millions of dollars, but Hamas can't bring the money into Gaza because banks refuse to transfer it, for fear of running afoul of U.S. anti-terror regulations.
The Palestinian foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, was to leave Tuesday for a fund-raising trip to Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Sri Lanka.
The Hamas prime minister, meanwhile, for the first time addressed an Israeli audience, granting an interview to the Haaretz daily. Hamas has rejected Western demands that it recognize Israel and renounce violence.
Haniyeh reiterated his demand that Israel withdraw to boundaries it has already rejected, offering in return a long-term ceasefire that falls well short of a formal peace treaty.
"If Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, peace will prevail and we will implement a ceasefire for many years," he told Haaretz. "Our government is prepared to maintain a long-term cease-fire with Israel."
The interview was published hours before Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was to outline his plan for further withdrawals from Judea and Samaria to U.S. President George W. Bush in the White House.
Israel, while accepting the principle of an independent Palestinian state, has said many times that it has no intention of returning to the exact lines it held prior to the 1967 conflict.
AP contributed to this report.
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