Hamas, Islamic Jihad: Truce with Israel must include West Bank

Palestinian sources say Hamas and Islamic Jihad have informed Egypt that they are only prepared to accept a truce with Israel on condition that it include the West Bank.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Haniyeh 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
Haniyeh 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have informed Egypt that they are only prepared to accept a truce with Israel on condition that it include the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip, sources close to the Palestinian groups said Thursday. The two groups told Egyptian security officials during a meeting in Sinai on Thursday that they wanted a "comprehensive and mutual" truce as soon as possible, according to the sources. The Egyptians have worked out a truce proposal that also calls for reopening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Sinai and partially lifting the blockade on the Strip, again according to the sources, who added that the initiative also called on Israel to refrain from targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. Thursday's meeting apparently ended without an agreement after the Egyptians told Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives that Israel had rejected their demand to include the West Bank in the truce. A Hamas official in the Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post that his movement was not opposed to the presence of European monitors and forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and at the Rafah crossing. The official claimed that both Egypt and Israel had also agreed to the presence of representatives of Gaza's Hamas government at the border crossing. "I believe we are very close to reaching a good deal," the official said. "It's possible that we will see positive developments in the coming days." Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said his movement told the Egyptians that Abbas's forces would be permitted to return to the Rafah border crossing only after receiving a green light from Hamas. "As for the European monitors, they can return only if they live in the Gaza Strip or in Egypt," he said. "We won't accept the previous situation where the monitors used to live in Israel." Also on Thursday, the White House announced that US President George W. Bush had invited Abbas to Washington in an effort to boost Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The visit is scheduled to take place around the beginning of May. "Details are still being worked out," said US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe. The talks would be part of a continuing effort "to work with the Palestinians and the Israelis as well as other countries in the region in realizing a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel," he said.