US wants Arab Plan for Statehood Push
OCCUPIED RAMALLAH US President Barack Obama’s Middle East envoy George Mitchell called on Friday for an Arab peace initiative to be part of a planned US drive to create a Palestinian state.
The 2002 Arab initiative offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for a full withdrawal from the lands it seized in the 1967 Middle East war, creation of a Palestinian state and a “just solution” for Palestinian refugees.
Also on Friday, two top Hamas leaders made their first appearances at public events since Israel’s Gaza war, signalling defiance of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he discussed peace prospects with Mitchell.
In escalation of violence against Palestinians, Israeli soldiers on Friday killed a protester in Occupied West Bank and a Jewish security guard shot dead another man who infiltrated a Jewish settlement, also in the occupied area.
“The US is committed to the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state where the aspirations of the Palestinian people to control their destiny are realised. We want the Arab peace initiative to be part of the effort to reach this goal,” Mitchell said after talks with Abbas in Occupied Ramallah.
Mitchell on Thursday met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has yet to commit to restarting US-backed talks with Abbas on core issues such as statehood borders, and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
Erekat said Abbas asked Mitchell to “exert every possible effort” to pressure Israel to commit to a two-state solution and to meet other obligations, including a freeze in Jewish settlement building in Occupied West Bank and a halt to home demolitions in Arab East Jerusalem.
A senior western diplomat familiar with the Obama administration’s deliberations said Washington wanted to pursue the Arab peace initiative but was keeping its options open.
On Friday, Hamas leaders Ismail Haniya and Mahmoud Al Zahar made their first appearances at public events since Gaza war.
“We cannot, we will not, and we will never recognise the enemy in any way, shape or form,” Al Zahar, one of the two leaders, said in a mosque sermon broadcast on the movement’s radio station, referring to Israel.
Haniya, who heads the Hamas administration in Gaza, spoke at another mosque.
Meanwhile, Palestinian hospital officials said a 30-year-old man died of a wound to the chest during a protest at the village of Bilin, site of almost weekly protests against the separation barrier which Israel is building in the Palestinian territory.
Abdallah Abu Rahmeh, a witness who took part in the protest, said Basem Ibrahim Abu Rahmeh, a distant relative, was talking to soldiers when troops fired teargas grenades at protesters.
Earlier in the day, a Palestinian with a knife infiltrated a Jewish settlement in the southern part of the Occupied West Bank and was shot dead by a security guard, the Israeli army said.
The Palestinian, descri-bed by Israeli media as being in his 20s, had “planned to carry out a terrorist attack” in Beit Haggai, a military spokeswoman said.
The 2002 Arab initiative offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for a full withdrawal from the lands it seized in the 1967 Middle East war, creation of a Palestinian state and a “just solution” for Palestinian refugees.
Also on Friday, two top Hamas leaders made their first appearances at public events since Israel’s Gaza war, signalling defiance of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he discussed peace prospects with Mitchell.
In escalation of violence against Palestinians, Israeli soldiers on Friday killed a protester in Occupied West Bank and a Jewish security guard shot dead another man who infiltrated a Jewish settlement, also in the occupied area.
“The US is committed to the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state where the aspirations of the Palestinian people to control their destiny are realised. We want the Arab peace initiative to be part of the effort to reach this goal,” Mitchell said after talks with Abbas in Occupied Ramallah.
Mitchell on Thursday met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has yet to commit to restarting US-backed talks with Abbas on core issues such as statehood borders, and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
Erekat said Abbas asked Mitchell to “exert every possible effort” to pressure Israel to commit to a two-state solution and to meet other obligations, including a freeze in Jewish settlement building in Occupied West Bank and a halt to home demolitions in Arab East Jerusalem.
A senior western diplomat familiar with the Obama administration’s deliberations said Washington wanted to pursue the Arab peace initiative but was keeping its options open.
On Friday, Hamas leaders Ismail Haniya and Mahmoud Al Zahar made their first appearances at public events since Gaza war.
“We cannot, we will not, and we will never recognise the enemy in any way, shape or form,” Al Zahar, one of the two leaders, said in a mosque sermon broadcast on the movement’s radio station, referring to Israel.
Haniya, who heads the Hamas administration in Gaza, spoke at another mosque.
Meanwhile, Palestinian hospital officials said a 30-year-old man died of a wound to the chest during a protest at the village of Bilin, site of almost weekly protests against the separation barrier which Israel is building in the Palestinian territory.
Abdallah Abu Rahmeh, a witness who took part in the protest, said Basem Ibrahim Abu Rahmeh, a distant relative, was talking to soldiers when troops fired teargas grenades at protesters.
Earlier in the day, a Palestinian with a knife infiltrated a Jewish settlement in the southern part of the Occupied West Bank and was shot dead by a security guard, the Israeli army said.
The Palestinian, descri-bed by Israeli media as being in his 20s, had “planned to carry out a terrorist attack” in Beit Haggai, a military spokeswoman said.
quoted from: Oman Tribune
