Yousef Alhelou: News of a new peace initiative between Israel and the Palestinians

2006-12-29 | Palestinian and Israeli officials have on Thursday called for direct negotiations between the two parties, aimed at reaching a final solution to the conflict, regardless of the precondition of a ceasefire. A member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Yasir Abid Rabbo, said, "The Palestinians are ready to go to negotiations directly with the Israelis, regardless of any violations to the ceasefire that have already occurred." The Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, has said that she is "proposing a new peace initiative between the Israelis and the Palestinians aiming to deal with several issues which have hit a deadlock." She told the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, that during the Sharon government the "Israelis could not say that they would not negotiate under fire, yet they had to say that they would not give any concessions under fire." Livni added that her vision depends on a Palestinian state as a homeland for the Palestinians, next to the Israeli state, which is the homeland for the Jews. This will solve the problem of the Palestinian people and the refugees, she claimed. This vision, said Livni is a present from Israel to the Palestinians, however it also serves Israeli interests. Yasir Abid Rabbo said that there are both Israeli and Palestinian parties which endeavor to hinder the peace efforts through military operations such as Israeli assassinations of Palestinians or Palestinians launching homemade projectiles. Additional reports from Yousef Alhelou US condemns Israeli development of the Maskiot settlement, considering it a violation of the roadmap U.S. State Department spokesman, Gonzo Gallagos, has said: "We are aware of reports about the Maskiot settlement. The establishment of a new settlement or the expansion of an existing settlement would violate Israel's obligations under the Roadmap. "We are seeking an explanation from the Israeli Government regarding this development. The U.S. calls on Israel to meet its Roadmap obligations and avoid taking steps that could be viewed as pre-determining the outcome of final status negotiations. The Roadmap specifically states that 'progress will require and depend upon the good faith efforts of the parties'…. "We will continue to work with Israel and the Palestinians to encourage progress towards the realization of President Bush's vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security." Haniyeh arrives in Jeddah en-route to the Hajj The Palestinian Prime Minister and his delegation arrived in Jeddah on Thursday evening on board a royal Saudi plane. The delegation comprises the Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmad Bahar, and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Interior, Mahmoud Zahhar and Sa'id Siyam. After the Hajj, Prime Minister Haniyeh will pay visits to Kuwait and Jordan, having been officially invited. The spokesperson of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Fawzi Barhoum, said that the visit aims to break the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and raise funds in additional to political and media support. Barhoum added that the importance of the visit lies in shaping the strategic relations with the Arab countries, especially those that share borders with Israel. Abbas arrives in Egypt Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Cairo on a two day visit, following a brief official visit to the Jordanian capital, Amman. Abbas will be meeting the Egyptian president to discuss the peace process and "how best to push it forward". President Abbas and President Mubarak will review efforts made to achieve calm in the Palestinian arena, in addition to the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire announced on the 26th November. President Abbas will update Mubarak with the results of his recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert. Abu Rdeneh denies Palestinian Presidency received weapons from Egypt A spokesperson of the Palestinian Presidency, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, has on Thursday denied the rumours that the presidency has received weapons from Egypt, in coordination with the Israelis. Muhammad Al-Horani, another spokesperson of the Fatah movement, said that the "Israeli media deliberately make up such lies so as to aggravate the tensions between the Hamas and the Fatah movements." Israel agrees on "retaliation" against Gazan projectile launchers Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved "retaliation" against the Palestinian projectile launchers. The approval of this latest escalation in violence came during consultations with minister of defense, Amir Peretz, and other security department heads, who convened to discuss an Israeli response to the continued projectile launching, targeting Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip. The meeting issued a decision to the Israeli military commanders in the area to "specifically work against the cells launching the projectiles against Israeli towns." Before the meeting started, Israeli Minister of Defense Peretz declared "we cant keep to our policy of self restraint, we must target the projectile launchers before they launch and after they launch". Some members of the Israeli cabinet suggested that a full military operation may frustrate the efforts to overthrow the Hamas government, and consequently endanger the release of the Israeli soldier captured in the Gaza Strip in June. Rain falls in the Palestinian territories After a long delay, rain has finally fallen in abundance all over the Palestinian territories. In the Gaza Strip, cold temperatures accompanied a torrential downpour, following two months of drought. Since dawn on Tuesday, rains started to fall, with changes noticeable in both sea waves and wind of greatly-increasing magnitude. Palestinian citizens expressed their happiness for the coming of the rains, saying, "Rain is a good signal from all perspectives; it can ease the state of chaos in the streets and it can clean the streets of Gaza of the remnants of the burnt tires, which have mutilated the environment and its cultural appearance." However, Gazans continue to complain about the frequent power cuts, especially those areas which only have power for 12 hours per day. The severe weather has made the operation of the power station, bombed by the Israeli air force in summer, significantly more problematic. Later on Wednesday, snow fell in several places across the West Bank, including Bethlehem and Hebron. Yousef Alhelou is a freelance Palestinian journalist based in Gaza. He can be contacted on ydamadan@hotmail.com