Israel and Palestinians 'working on ceasefire terms'
Israel and the Palestinians are working to iron out the terms of a cease-fire to be declared at a four-leader summit in Egypt next week, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said today.
Peres said he did not know whether the truce would be a signed, written agreement, but said the goal was to declare the end to four years of violence at a February 8 summit between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
The summit will be hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Jordan’s King Abdullah will also atten the historic meeting at Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.
Abbas is working diligently to get all the Palestinian factions – including the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups – to agree to the terms of a cease-fire, Peres said.
“I hope that a cease-fire will be declared, a halt to all violent acts,” Peres told Israel’s Army Radio.
Peres said he was optimistic that Tuesday’s summit will yield positive results, because Yasser Arafat – who died on November 11 – is no longer orchestrating events in the Palestinian Authority.
Israel accused Arafat of encouraging violence, an allegation he denied.
“This time there is a Palestinian leader who is really trying to prevent it (violence), who went immediately to Gaza, stayed there for several days, deployed his forces – this is a different situation,” Peres said, praising Abbas’ recent efforts to halt violence, especially in the volatile Gaza Strip.
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