Palestinians call for ceasefire with Israel
Palestinian officials said today they are ready for a cease-fire with Israel as a first step toward reviving the stalled US-backed “road map” peace plan.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said he made the proposal during a meeting Saturday in Jordan with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Shaath said the Palestinians asked the United States to put pressure on Israel to commit to a halt in fighting. He said the militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas told Egyptian mediators that are ready to commit to a cease-fire.
“We told Powell we are ready for such a cease-fire if the United States is able to bring an Israeli commitment to such an agreement,” he said.
Shaath said Powell did not respond to the offer. Powell was travelling today and not immediately available to comment.
Palestinian officials said the proposal would be raised in talks Monday with US. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in Berlin.
The proposal followed a bloody week of fighting in the Gaza Strip in which 13 Israeli soldiers and 32 Palestinians died.
Israeli officials brushed off the Palestinian proposal. ”We have to see actions, not declarations,” said a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisting that Israel was only defending itself against Palestinian terror attacks.
The road map envisions an independent Palestinian state in 2005. As an interim step, it calls for an immediate halt to violence and for the Palestinians to dismantle violent groups.
The plan has been stalled for months amid violations by both sides. Because of the deadlock, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposed a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but his party turned it down.
The Palestinians said they would support the pullout plan, but only if it is part of a larger withdrawal from the West Bank territory in accordance with the road map.
