US Vice President Cheney in West Bank Next Week Abbas: All Israeli Settlements Built after 1967 Are Illegal 11/03/2008

by **Admin** Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:47 am

Palestine Media Center - PMC

US President George W. Bush announced Monday he is sending Vice President Dick Cheney to the Middle East, following on last week's trip to the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, “to reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East, that we expect relevant parties to obligate themselves - uphold their obligations on the road map," he said.

Cheney will travel to the Middle East next week, including stops in Israel and the Palestinian territories, his office confirmed Monday. He will depart Washington on Sunday and meet leaders in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Turkey "for discussions with these key partners on issues of mutual interest," his office said in a statement.

The White House says the journey was planned some time ago and is not a response to new developments in the region.

Cheney will "reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East," Bush said.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the prime minister of Poland, President Bush urged Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to remain determined to make peace a reality.

"I'm optimistic that we'll be able to achieve a vision that shows a way forward, and I'm optimistic leaders will step forward and do the hard things necessary so people don't have to live in deprivation and fear," he added.

Bush made his first official visit to Israel and the West Bank in January, and he plans to return in May.

According to White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe, Cheney’s "goal is to reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East," Bush said.

Cheney will also take the message "that we fully see the threats facing the Middle East, one such threat is Iran, and that we will continue to bolster our security agreements and relationships with our friends and allies," Bush said.

Cheney will meet with key leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

His office said his trip would last one week to 10 days.

Cheney's visit follows a Middle East mission by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who secured a promise from Israelis and the Palestinians to resume peace talks suspended amid a recent escalation in violence.

Abbas-Olmert Meeting ‘Not on Agenda’

However Abbas' political advisor, Nemer Hammad, denied media reports that Abbas was going to meet Olmert next week.

"So far, there is no such a meeting on the agenda for next week," Hammad, told Voice of Palestine radio.

Hammad said the resumption of Abbas-Olmert meeting will be subject to the results of a three-way meeting that will be held on Thursday among Israeli and Palestinian negotiation crews and a U.S. envoy who oversees the implementation of the roadmap peace plan.

Hamas-Israel Deal Reached

Abbas said Monday that a deal was reached with Hamas on a cease-fire with Israel through Egyptian mediation.

In an interview with the satellite television station Al-Arabiya, Abbas said that Hamas had asked for immunity from Israeli assassination attempts on its leaders and those of Islamic Jihad, "and I think Israel agreed, or will agree soon."

He said that details of the deal will emerge in the coming days.

"I believe an agreement has been reached in principle" on a cease-fire, Abbas said. "Hamas will stop firing rockets on Israel, and in return, Israel will halt attacks on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

He also said that the deal provided for "easing the siege on the Gaza Strip and the reopening of crossing points" into the Hamas-controlled territory.

"Hamas has demanded that its leaders and those of Islamic Jihad be protected against Israeli attacks, and I believe the Israelis have agreed," he added.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh thanked Egypt Monday for its efforts to bring about a cease-fire with Israel, adding that he hoped this would be followed by a deal to mend the rift between the Islamic organization and Abbas's Fatah party.

The Hamas leader also said that the calm stemmed from Israel's realization that its policy in the Strip had failed, and that Hamas had an effective deterrent against Israeli "aggression."

But Olmert and his “Defense” Minister Ehud Barak both rejected any suggestion that a cease-fire agreement had been reached with Hamas.

Olmert insisted that no negotiations are being conducted with Hamas, either directly or indirectly. Speaking to reporters at the end of a meeting in Jerusalem with visiting Czech President Mirek Toplolanek, he said: "There is no cease-fire agreement; there are no negotiations, direct or indirect."

Similarly Barak, who spoke during a visit to the military base at Tel Hashomer, said that "at this moment, there is no agreement with Hamas for calm on the ground. When we want to act in Gaza, we shall. When terrorism and arms smuggling into the Strip stop, then we will consider the path toward calm. We are committed to restoring calm to the area and we shall, even if it takes time - and it will involve effort."

All Settlements Illegal

Responding to a question about the feasibility of resuming negotiations with Israel at a time when Olmert has approved the building of 750 new housing units in a settlement near Jerusalem - one that Israel wants to keep under any deal - Abbas said: "We consider all settlements as illegal."

"We are going to tell the Israelis that all settlements they build today or tomorrow and all settlements they built after the 1967 war are illegal, and we are going to deal with [them] on this basis," he added.

Abbas: No Other Path but Peace

Abbas on Saturday confirmed that the violence will not derail his determination to pursue peace with Israel as the only option forward: "We condemn all the attacks, we demand peace and we are determined to make peace, and there is no other path but the path of peace based on international justice," he said.

Abbas arrived in Amman Saturday for a three-day visit to Jordan, after which he’ll travel to Senegal for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)’s summit in Dakar.

In a speech delivered in the West Bank city of Ramallah on the occasion of the International Women's Day, Abbas said: "Despite all the circumstances we're living through and all the attacks we're experiencing, we insist on peace. There is no other path."

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) said one of their soldiers was dead and three others wounded after Palestinians ambushed a military patrol in the northern Gaza Strip Saturday. The IOF on Friday shot dead a Palestinian farmer in the northern Gaza Strip. An Israeli air strike a day earlier killed four Palestinians in the Strip on Thursday, near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. On Thursday also a Palestinian resident of Arab East Jerusalem was killed after he opened fire in a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem, killing at least seven people and wounding about ten.

"We condemn all the attacks, we demand peace and we are determined to make peace,” Abbas said Saturday.

On Thursday he condemned the shooting attack in Jerusalem. "President Mahmoud Abbas condemns the attack in Jerusalem that claimed the lives of many Israelis and he reiterated his condemnation of all attacks that target civilians, whether they are Palestinians or Israelis," said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat

Abbas Saturday listed core demands for agreement with Israel on future borders, the status of Jerusalem, the Jewish settlements built on occupied Palestinian land since 1967, the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees and thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

"If we were to get these, then we would be ready for a just, fair and comprehensive peace agreement," Abbas said.

He renewed calls for making peace in the Middle East by creating a Palestinian statehood and resolving all final-status issues, adding that Jerusalem should be the capital of the future state, which will be established in accordance with the Arab and international resolutions.

Abbas affirmed that no peace deal will be signed as long as Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jails. "Their issue is on the top of our priorities," he said.

Abbas also vowed to continue supporting the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas took over in June. "The absence of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in Gaza doesn't mean the PNA will not meet its commitments," he said.

He stressed that the Gaza Strip should be politically reunited with the West Bank via dialogue, while urging Hamas to end its control on Gaza Strip to pave the way for the national dialogue. Hamas "was a firm part of the Palestinian people despite the mistakes they made," said Abbas.

According to Abbas, the PNA's concerns now are the reopening of crossing points into the Gaza Strip "to end the suffering of the people" caused by the Israeli cutoff and the reinforcement of a comprehensive ceasefire with Israel.

Abbas said he supports Egyptian efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, indicating that a truce would create a positive atmosphere for resuming peace talks.

Saeb Erekat, head of the Negotiations department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said Saturday that a special U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian committee, led by U.S. Gen. William Fraser, would meet probably on Thursday to examine to what extent the sides were meeting their commitments under a long-stalled peace "road map."

Yasser Abed Rabbo, the Secretary General of the PLO Executive Committee, said, " Israel is doing its best to weaken the Palestinian Authority by preventing it from restoring security and order in the West Bank and Gaza ."

"Closure, roadblocks and expanding Jewish settlements, in addition to the military aggression against Gaza would only lead to widening the gaps between the two sides," Abed Rabbo told the "Voice of Palestine Radio."