The Palestinian government and the Hamas movement have rejected the admittance of any Arab or international military forces to the Gaza Strip, or to bring the Strip under the supervision of the Arab League.
In a press conference in Ramallah on Wednesday, Information Minister Mahmud Barghouthi stated, ‘the suggestion of Meretz (a “left wing” party inside Israel) to have the Strip under the control of the Arab League is inflammatory to the unity of the occupied territories, and to the right of the Palestinians to determine their destiny and to the principle of the state building.
‘It is a rejection of our democratic system.’
The minister called on Meretz to work on ending the occupation, and towards the establishment of the Palestinian state instead of calling for foreign military intervention.
‘This is an attempt to avoid the Arab Peace Initiative, which says that the Palestinians have the right to build their own state. . . any suggestion which is not going to lead to the establishment of the state will be rejected.’
The spokesman of the Hamas bloc in the PLC, Salah Bardawil, said that ‘any plan in this regard will be rejected, and we will not deal with it in any way.
‘Such plans aim to show that the conflict is (only) between Palestinians, and show Israel as outside of the game. . . Such plans also aim to show the issue as merely a humanitarian issue, aiming to end the political dimension of the problem.’
According to Bardawil, domestic problems in the occupied territories are ‘as the same as all the internal problems in the rest of the world. . . if the Arabs have any spare forces, why don’t they use them to put an end to the Israeli violence.
‘The Arabs shouldn’t look at this issue from an Israeli point of view.’
He added that ‘the internal fighting between Fatah and Hamas is because of Israeli conspiracies and interference, and because of the Israeli agents and collaborators who play a major role in this conflict.’
He concluded that ‘the one who kills the bearded Palestinian is not Palestinian.
‘When we in Hamas decided to aim our rifles at the Israelis, the internal fighting stopped. This is evidence that the Israelis are behind what is going on.’
Earlier, President Mahmud Abbas received Prime Minister Ismail Haniya at the Presidency headquarters in Gaza.
Presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaynah said that the two discussed the internal situation in the Palestinian territories in light of the Israeli military escalation against our people and the efforts to reach a simultaneous and reciprocal cease-fire with Israel.
Rudaynah further said that the meeting dealt with ways to enhance national unity and end the infighting once and for all.
This way, he said, we will be free to rise up against the ongoing aggression against our people and renew the peace process, by realising our people’s wishes for freedom and independence, and establishing our independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Meanwhile, the head of public sector workers’ syndicate, Bassam Zakarna, declared on Wednesday that all strikes and protest actions related to the issue of unpaid salaries will be suspended in the Palestinian territories starting from June 4th because of the Israeli ‘attack against the Palestinian people’.
In a press conference held in Al Bireh, which is joined to the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Wednesday, he said that, because ‘the employees care about the national interest, and as they feel they are part of the national struggle, they will suspend the strike and all protest acts from the 4th of June.’
He clarified that only this coming Saturday and Sunday will be days of strike.
At the same time, Zakarna called on the government to fulfil its responsibilities regarding the issue of unpaid salaries.
He also urged the finance minister to take into consideration the suffering of the employees as a result of the delay of the salaries.
Zakarna described some of the government’s acts as ‘unacceptable’ and confirmed that the union ‘will deal with the issues which do not satisfy the employees.’
The head of the union’s demands committee, Ahmad Assaf, added that what was being paid in the past was ‘something like salaries but not real salaries.’
‘90 per cent of the 150,000 governmental employees are living under the poverty line,’ he said. ‘The accumulated salaries needing to be paid to the employees exceed US$800m.’
Zakarna urged the national companies, such as the electricity, water, banks and other companies, to take into consideration the situation of the employees so that services can continue.
Palestinian president Abbas has appealed to the Quartet of the US, UN, EU and Russia to bring about a ‘mutual cease-fire’ between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Chief of Staff Office of the President, Dr Rafiq Husseini said that Israel has resumed the targeting of civilians through extrajudicial assassinations and aerial and artillery bombardment of cities and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
In a letter, on behalf of President Abbas, to Marc Otte, European Union, David Welch, United States of America, Michael Williams, United Nations, Sergeiy Yakovlev, Russian federation and Representatives of the Quartet, Husseini said that Israel is also, in the West Bank, carrying out a campaign of assassinations, abductions and violent attacks against the Palestinian population, including arrests of senior elected officials.
‘Such activities constitute a violation of the law of armed conflict and of Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under international humanitarian law,’ Husseini said.
He added that President Abbas has repeatedly condemned rocket attacks against Israelis and is working tirelessly to bring these violations to an end.
‘Israeli closures have crippled movement within the West Bank and have led to an increasingly dire economic situation, as detailed in a recent World Bank report,’ according to the letter.
Husseini pointed out since the unilateral evacuation of the Jewish settlements in Gaza, Israel’s policy has been to completely isolate the Gaza Strip, adding that this situation has been exacerbated by a crippling financial siege against the democratically elected Palestinian National Authority (PNA) government.
The recent Israeli military offensive only worsens an already disastrous situation, making it increasingly difficult for the PNA to restore order and bring calm to the Gaza Strip.
Husseini said that President Abbas is appealing to the government of Israel to work with him urgently to develop a comprehensive, mutual and simultaneous cease-fire, in line with the benchmarks set out by the US government.
Israel has not been forthcoming in acceptance of such offers, however, opting instead for the logic of attacks and incursions.
He made it clear that the President takes this opportunity to reiterate the Palestinian commitment to peace, through a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict and that the Arab Peace Initiative offers an historic opportunity for reactivating the political process.
‘A mutual cessation of violence is the only way to end the cycle of violence and bloodshed and open the way to a political horizon,’ he said in a letter.
Husseini concluded the letter in saying that ‘The President urges you to use all means at your disposal to help put an end to Israeli bombardment, assassinations and abductions and use your good offices to help bring about a mutual cease-fire and then work with all parties to ensure that it can be sustained.
‘This will require urgent steps both in humanitarian, security and political spheres.’
Meanwhile, the head of the negotiations department in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Dr Saeb Erekat, met with a high-ranking US delegation on Wednesday.
In the meeting, the two sides discussed the latest political developments in the region, especially the Israeli escalation and the need for a mutual and comprehensive truce between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.
The US delegation included Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy, Republican Senator Thad Cochran, Democrat Senator Ken Salazar, and Democrat Representative Peter Welch. The delegation was accompanied by the US consul general in Jerusalem, Jacob Walles.
The meeting also addressed the recent arrest raid by Israeli forces of Palestinian ministers and other elected officials.
They also discussed the need to launch a peace process which leads to US President Bush’s vision of two states living side-by-side in peace, as also described in the Arab peace initiative and the Roadmap, in addition to many other international resolutions.
Erekat gave his guests many fact sheets, maps, and other documents prepared by his department in regards to the Israeli settlement activity and the separation wall in addition to the siege, collective punishment, closures, the economic situation and the Palestinian prisoners and refugees.
He also warned that the Israeli measures are leading to an increase in violence and extremism in the Palestinian arena.
He also stressed that the stability of the region depends on ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank – including east Jerusalem – and the Gaza Strip, which started four decades ago, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.