Arab League welcomes the Abbas initiative
Egypt has called for both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to respect the newly reached ceasefire agreed on between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert according to the Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said, “All parties must respect the ceasefire. The withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip is a positive sign and will hopefully lead to further negotiations.
Abul-Gheit stressed that all Palestinian factions must be united in their stance and in respecting the ceasefire, so as not to give hardliners from either side a chance to sabotage the process.
Arab League spokesman and advisor Alaa Roushdy told ITALICS The Daily Star Egypt ITALICS that the Palestinian ceasefire is a welcome move that will hopefully lead to further progress.
“We welcome the Palestinian initiative. We hope this puts a stop to violence in the Gaza Strip, Israeli incursions and the death of civilians. It’s a start and might eventually mean a return to negotiations.
Soon after the ceasefire, two militant Palestinian groups, who claimed they did not intend to respect the ceasefire, fired homemade rockets into Israel according to AP. There were no injuries from the attacks.
As for concerns that ongoing, albeit scattered, rocket attacks would derail the ceasefire, Roushdy responded, “We hope not. The Palestinian side is taking this incident very seriously. And we must remember that it is the Palestinians who initiated this ceasefire.
In statements he gave Saturday in Cairo, Khaled Mashaal, the political leader of Hamas, gave a six-month deadline for negotiations with Israel concerning the inception of a Palestinian state or he warned a new uprising would occur.
Mashaal seemed to be willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, and possibly a two state solution long refused by Hamas.
We give six months to open real political horizons … we agreed on the national accord to establish a Palestinian state, with the June 4, 1967 borders. They have to seize this opportunity, he was quoted by AP as saying.
Mashaal is in Cairo as part of a Hamas delegation to discuss a prisoner swap with Israel, which Egypt is attempting to broker. Hamas want 1,400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Corporal Gilad Shalit, kidnapped in the Gaza Strip five months ago.
Recent violence in the Gaza Strip has claimed the lives of 300 Palestinians and 5 Israelis according to AP.
