Report: Israel proposes truce in Gaza
London-based al-Hayat newspaper quotes Palestinian sources as saying that senior Egyptian officials delivered to Hamas, Islamic Jihad an Israel offer for calm in Strip, including halting Qassam rocket fire for period of six to 12 months. According to report, Hamas agreed to deal while rest of factions rejected it
According to the report, Israel delivered the proposal to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad through senior Egyptian officials. The offer includes a demand that the Palestinian factions halt the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip for a period of six to 12 months.
In addition, the sources said, Israel insists that the calm will only include the Gaza Strip and not the West Bank, as opposed to the declared Palestinian stance demanding a mutual truce which would also include the West Bank.
The Palestinian sources clarified that Israel had promised to be flexible in terms of the border crossings issue, including the Rafah crossing connecting between Egypt and the Strip.
The sources went on to say that Israel refused to include the West Bank in the agreement, claiming that this was a more complex region, which is divided to three areas (A, B and C) and suffers from multiple problems.
Several sources told the newspaper that Hamas had expressed an agreement in principle for a truce in Gaza only, but that the Islamic Jihad and aides to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had rejected the idea.
Other factions which rejected the offer, according to the report, were the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front and the Popular Resistance Committees.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Sunday evening for the second time in one week, following a previous agreement between the two leaders to meet before Abbas leaves for Washington.
The meeting was kept a secret till now as per the Palestinians' request. The tête-à-tête meeting began at around 5:30 pm at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem and lasted for about an hour.
The two leaders discussed different issues raised in the diplomatic negotiations between the two sides, which will be presented to US President George W. Bush by Abbas later in the week.
