'Truce to be declared this week’
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is heading to Cairo tomorrow, says he is convinced that an intra-Palestinian agreement on a cease-fire would be achieved soon; remarks made during Channel One interview slated to be aired Sunday evening
TEL AVIV - All Palestinian factions are set to announce a cease-fire in Cairo this week, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview with Channel One Sunday.
“A while ago we declared calm, and now, God willing, we’ll go to Cairo to declare a hudna (truce) by all Palestinian factions, in order to give a chance to a renewed peace process,” he said.
Although a hudna, by definition, is a temporary truce, Abbas said the sides did not set a timeframe for maintaining it.
“God willing, if all goes well, there’s no doubt the hudna would hold,” he said.
Meanwhile, Israel has approved the transfer of nine terrorists involved in last month’s terror attack in Tel Aviv to a Palestinian Authority prison in the West Bank town of Jericho, Abbas said.
The interview marked the first time Abbas has been interviewed by the Israeli media since he was elected. The complete interview will air on Channel One Sunday evening.
Abbas wants Gaza homes to be left intact
During the interview, Abbas also addressed the expected Gaza pullout.
If Israel leaves the evacuees’ homes intact, he said, he would be personally responsible for ensuring the houses would be untouched and become the property of a Palestinian state.
Talks between Palestinian terror groups and the Palestinian Authority are set to resume Tuesday in Cairo. PA officials say they are looking to reach an agreement on an initial one-year truce.
The sides are also expected to discuss the establishment of a united Palestinian leadership, and the integration of Palestinian factions into Palestine Liberation Organization institutions.
In recent days, senior PA officials implied that an intra-Palestinian truce agreement has already been reached, but Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials denied the reports and asked that the PA refrain from making statements on their behalf.
