Olmert makes goodwill pledges
SHARM EL-SHEIKH: The Israeli prime minister announced Monday a package of pledges as a sign of good will to bolster the rule of the Palestinian president in the West Bank after Hamas take over of the Gaza Strip. At the Egypt-hosted four-party peace summit, Ehud Olmert promised to release around 250 Palestinian prisoners, to lift travel restrictions in the West Bank, transfer Palestinian tax revenues to Abbas authority regularly and strengthen trade relations with the Palestinians. The residents of Judea and Samaria [Hebrew words for the West Bank] will feel that the choice of a path which is not terror and violence, but rather a path of dialogue and peace opens up new political possibilities and leads to a better life, one which is more comfortable and tranquil, Olmert said at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit where he convened with Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian leaders. In the meantime, he promised to continue humanitarian assistance to Gazans. We will continue to provide this population with electricity, water, medical services, food and medication, in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis, added Olmert.
The summit comes on the heels of bloody Palestinian infighting that culminated with the expulsion of Fatah from Gaza by Hamas militants and the establishment of two Palestinian governments earlier this month; one led by Abbas in the West Bank and another by Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Gaza.
Egypt and Jordan threw their immediate support behind Abbas seeking to isolate Hamas, in an attempt to curb the rampant Islamist influence in the region. As far as prisoners were concerned, Emad Gad, an expert with Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told The Daily Star Egypt that it is a sign of good will but it s not a big thing. In the meantime, there is no guarantee that this promise will be delivered, he said. He made a promise not a decision so he might go back on it, added Gad. According to Palestinian officials, more than 10, 000 Palestinians languish in Israeli prisons. By those promises, Olmert wants to say that the more Fatah distances itself from Hamas, the more he will make gestures of that kind, said Gad.
The talks did not broach means to heal the Palestinian internal rift, according to presidential Soliman Awad.
This summit was not intended to discuss the disagreements between Fatah and Hamas, Awad told reporters after the summit. In the meantime, he did not rule out the possibility that Egypt would resume its mediating efforts to achieve reconciliation between the two Palestinian factions. Egypt will not abandon the Palestinian people or their just cause. Egypt will return at the appropriate time when all Palestinian factions realize the dangerous repercussions of what happened, Awad continued. Yet President Mubarak emphasized in his speech the need for the resumption of inter-Palestinian dialogue. Our deliberations today affirmed the parallel need to end disagreements and unify the Palestinian ranks through dialogue, said Mubarak They affirmed the resumption of dialogue between all children of Palestine and the achievement of a common position that speaks for its people and its cause is an immediate requirement that can bear no delay. Hamas leaders have already expressed their willingness to hold a dialogue with Fatah, but Fatah has turned them down. Being in a stronger position, Fatah is not expected to heed any demands to resume talks with Hamas, said Gad. Hamas is now facing an ordeal and this is why it has changed its language and asked for any kind of dialogue, said Gad. Fatah would not allow this dialogue. It knows that such dialogue would revive Hamas which has already committed political suicide.
