Hamas-led parliament delays move to block Abbas referendum
The Palestinians' Hamas-dominated parliament today backed off a threat to derail President Mahmoud Abbas' plan to hold a national referendum on a proposal that implicitly recognises Israel, putting off a crucial vote until next week.
With its 69-6 vote, the parliament delayed a contentious showdown with Abbas until June 20. MPs said the move was aimed at giving on-going negotiations between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement a chance to succeed.
“If we have voted against the referendum today, the gap between us would have become too wide,” said independent MP Hassan Khreishe, deputy parliament speaker. “We are giving more chance for dialogue to go ahead.”
Abbas, a political moderate, has set a July 26 referendum on a plan that calls for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, effectively recognising the Jewish state.
In a stormy parliamentary session, Hamas MPs challenged the legality of Abbas' decree on Saturday announcing the referendum.
Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, opposes the referendum, but says it is willing to negotiate with Abbas about the plan. Leaders from the sides were scheduled to meet later today for a third straight day.
The referendum debate is taking place amid escalating violence between Israel and Hamas, complicating Abbas’ efforts.
Polls have indicated the public widely supports the plan. Abbas believes a victory in the referendum would help the Palestinians to end crushing international economic sanctions against the Hamas government. He also thinks it would promote Palestinian statehood and diminish fighting between Hamas and Fatah that has killed 17 Palestinians in the past month.
The latest casualty was a Hamas gunman killed today in a shoot-out with officers outside Fatah-dominated security agency headquarters in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
The gunfight broke out when Hamas gunmen, attending the funeral of a fellow activist killed in a clash with Fatah, opened fire. Officers fired back, hitting the Hamas gunman.
Abbas set a date for the referendum despite an explosion on a Gaza beach on Friday that killed eight civilians and inflamed passions against Israel. Palestinians said the deaths were caused by an Israeli artillery shell, but Israel has suggested its army may not be responsible and is conducting an investigation.
Abbas’ referendum plans suffered a further setback yesterday when a Hamas prisoner who co-authored the proposal withdrew his support for the document.
Abdel Khaleq Natche accused Abbas of exploiting the document for political gain. He and other Palestinian prisoners held by Israel enjoy great clout in Palestinian society.
Before the beach attack, opinion polls had shown widespread public support for the referendum. There have been no surveys since.
Today’s legislative session began with several hundred government employees demonstrating to demand salaries that have been withheld for more than three months because of the Western aid cut-off.
“We want milk. We want food,” protesters shouted. Dozens of angry demonstrators banged on the chamber’s door after the session began.
Fatah legislator Saeb Erekat urged MPs to “rally around efforts to unite the people, not divide them”.
Israel-Palestinian violence has shot up since the beach explosion and the killing by Israel a day earlier of a senior Palestinian militant, with Hamas officially calling off a 16-month truce.
In the 24 hours that ended at noon today, militants launched 39 rockets at southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries, the Israeli military said.
Military officials said Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz postponed a large-scale air offensive against Gaza militants for a day or two to give the Palestinians more time to stop rocket attacks from the coastal territory.
Israel suspended its artillery fire against rocket-launching operations until it winds up its investigation of the explosions on the Gaza beach.
Although the Palestinian rockets are inaccurate and often don’t cause casualties, they have badly disrupted the lives of residents of Israeli towns near the Gaza border.
Peretz, who lives in one of those towns, told a meeting of his Labour Party today that there would be a limit to Israel’s restraint.
“No one should have any illusions: I want to bring calm,” he said. “(But) if there is no choice, we will do all we have to do without any restraint.”
The sharp spike in rocket attacks have led to renewed Israeli threats to assassinate Hamas' leaders.
Tzahi Hanegbi, chairman of the Israeli parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, said today that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas could become a target if he were to begin directing attacks.
Israel killed Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, in missile strikes in 2004, and the same fate could befall Haniyeh, Hanegbi warned.
“Rantisi and Yassin are waiting for you Haniyeh if you take the same position of killing Jews and of striking indiscriminately with suicide attacks that will try once again to freeze Israeli society,” he said.
Peretz also suggested yesterday that Haniyeh could be a target, saying that no one involved in attacks against Israel would be immune from retaliatory strikes.
Haniyeh shrugged off the threats.
“Such statements are not new to us,” he said. “They reflect the hostile attitude of some Israeli leaders.”
Hamas suicide bombers killed more than 250 Israelis in 4 1/2 years of violence that preceded the ceasefire.
The end of the truce has raised concerns that Hamas could resume the suicide attacks, but with Hamas now the governing power, it might pressure its military wing to avoid deadly confrontation with Israel, for fear that would deepen its international isolation.
In London to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Israeli pemier Ehud Olmert said he would make “every possible effort” to negotiate peace with the Palestinians but remains prepared to act unilaterally.
Blair said there was broad international agreement on the need to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and promised Olmert “every support and every impetus we can from the international community” toward that goal.
Olmert pledged “every possible effort” to negotiate peace, but said that was conditioned on an end of terrorism. But he also made it plain that he remained prepared to act unilaterally.
“In spite of our obvious efforts, we may not be able to achieve our primary goal to negotiate with the Palestinians on the principles of the road map. We will have to move forward … to separate from the Palestinians, pull out from areas of the West Bank to realign Israelis to other parts of Israel to leave a very large contiguous territories for a state to be formed by the Palestinians,” he said.
“We are prepared to pull out from most of the occupied territories for the formation of a Palestinian state,” Olmert added.
“But the Palestinians are fighting with us, … missing a great opportunity. What we are offering is a generous compromise, a dramatic change of attitudes and positions. This is a great opportunity for us and the Palestinians to move forward.”
Blair, again stressing his insistence on a negotiated settlement, said it was clear that an agreement could be reached.
“If you can get negotiations underway, a solution is possible,” Blair said. “The three conditions are laid down for Israel to begin negotiations on a final settlement – Israel’s right to exist, the renunciation of violence and adherence to the road map.”
Asked if he advocated negotiations with the militant Hamas leadership, Blair said: “You can only negotiate with people who accept your existence and stop violence. A negotiated settlement is easily, manifestly the best thing. We can’t continue indefinitely with what we have at the moment. We need a resolution or it slips back into chaos.”
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