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Kissing and making up. A Palestinian policeman embraces a new recruit. (AP)
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| By Associated Press January 23, 2005 |
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| Right-wing activism Baruch Marzel leads a demonstration of Sderot residents. The poster of Sharon says: "Crazy??? The Egyptians will guard our security?" and the poster of Ministers Netanyahu, Shalom, and Livnat says: "Sharon's sheep." A third poster, a right, shows the range of rockets after an Israeli retreat from Gaza. (AP) |
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Palestinians and Israelis moved close to halting more than four years of bloody violence on Sunday, with the new Palestinian leader saying he is making progress toward a truce deal with militants and Israel pledging for the first time to hold fire if calm prevails.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas extended his stay in Gaza until Monday to try to win a declaration from armed groups that they will halt attacks against Israelis. Abbas has been meeting representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a group with ties to his Fatah movement.
Israeli leaders said Sunday they would suspend their military operations if the Palestinians maintain calm, taking a major step in the direction of a truce accord.
As in the past, the Palestinians were negotiating among themselves about conditions for halting violence without directly involving Israel _ but making parallel demands on the Israelis.
A truce was not formally in place, but little violence was reported Sunday, as about 3,000 Palestinian police patrolled Gaza areas near the Israeli border for a third day to prevent militants from firing rockets.
Though there have been other brief periods of quiet during four years of violence, optimism was heightened this time. Abbas, who succeeded Yasser Arafat after winning a Jan. 9 election, was working around the clock to stop violence, backing up his earlier statements that violent Palestinian resistance is a mistake.
And on the Israeli side, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was responding positively to Palestinian moves for the first time, reflecting some confidence in Abbas, in stark contrast to Israel's attitude toward Arafat.
Abbas remained in Gaza on Sunday, canceling plans to return to his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah. He told Palestinian TV that a truce accord was near.
"Everybody feels the responsibility and the importance of putting an end to the situation that we are all living in right now," Abbas said. "We can say that there has been significant progress in the talks. Our differences have diminished, and therefore we are bound to reach an agreement very soon."
Local officials of Islamic groups said an agreement has not yet been reached.
Sharon convened his weekly Sunday Cabinet meeting in Sderot, a town just outside Gaza that has been repeatedly targeted by Palestinian rocket fire.
Sharon praised the recent calm as a "positive" development but warned of a tough response if attacks resume. "I hope that perhaps the quiet will continue and if not, then the army and security forces will continue to do whatever is necessary in order to remove the threat," Sharon said.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said that Israel wants to give the recently elected Abbas _ also known as Abu Mazen _ a chance to complete his cease-fire deal.
"As long as there is quiet, there is no reason why we should act, certainly not while Abu Mazen is taking his first steps," Mofaz told Israel Radio. In the past, Israel refused to promise the militants amnesty.
Mofaz, an ex-military chief and career officer, was uncharacteristically optimistic. "The year 2005 may be a turning point in which there will no longer be any soldiers in Gaza nor in the cities of Judea and Samaria," he said, using the biblical name for the West Bank. Israel plans to pull out of Gaza in the summer.
Participants in the cease-fire talks have said a document being considered calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
Hamas in the past has called for Israel's destruction, and acceptance of the document would mean a significant change of position for the Islamic militants.
Hassan Yousef, the Hamas leader in the West Bank, said his group wants assurances from Abbas that he will bring Hamas members into Palestinian Authority positions, including the security forces. The militants also want assurances that Israel will release Palestinian prisoners.
"The top priority for a cease-fire is the release of prisoners and to maintain the right to defend our people in the event of an attack," Hamas said in a statement released Sunday. There are about 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israeli has periodically freed small numbers of prisoners in goodwill gestures, but Palestinians have criticized the releases as inadequate.
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