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"Israel
will continue to strike at the terrorists and their
organizations," Sharon
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GAZA
CITY, June 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon Monday, June 16, ruled out any progress with the
Palestinians until they have someone "willing or able" to
bring a halt to attacks on Israel as the Palestinian factions who met
earlier in the day with an Egyptian delegation announced that no
agreement on a draft truce has been reached.
Sharon
made his comments as the Israeli parliament endorsed Sharon's stance
on not implementing the U.S.-backed "roadmap" for peace
until the Palestinians cease their operations, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
"As
long as terrorism continues, we cannot move forward," Sharon told
a meeting of legislators from his right-wing Likud party in remarks
broadcast by Israeli public radio.
"As
long as there is nobody on the Palestinian side who wants or is able
to fight terrorism, Israel will continue to strike at the terrorists
and their organizations," he warned.
Sharon
kept a tough line on the need to end bombing operations.
"Israel
has been confronted since the Aqaba summit with a wave of terrorism,
aimed at killing a maximum number of Jews, to wreck any attempt to
resume talks on security and political issues," he told his Likud
partymates.
"I
put the Palestinians and Americans on notice several times in the past
that we would act with all our force against terrorism and terrorist
organizations, and that's what we have done," the Prime Minister
said.
"We
would really like to see progress in the political process but we must
take reality into account and we cannot permit action by those who
resort to any means to prevent any possibility of advancing.
"These
are the birth pains of a political process. It's complicated but we
must act calmly and responsibly, without getting excited," he
added.
Sharon
was to speak at the parliamentary debate after hearing criticism from
leftist legislators who doubted his commitment to the roadmap aimed at
creating a Palestinian state by 2005.
Washington
has been putting pressure
on both sides, but particularly the Palestinians, to end their latest
cycle of violence and implement the peace plan drafted by the United
States, Russia, United Nations and European Union.
Shortly
after announcing its "tactical" acceptance of the roadmap,
Israel launched a series of deadly helicopter raids in Gaza, including
a failed attempt
to kill Hamas political leader Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi.
The
Palestinian resistance groups said Tuesday, June 10, the failed
Israeli attempt on Rantissi's life served as a "coup de
grace" in the heart of the U.S.-driven roadmap for Mideast peace.
No
Truce In Sight
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“We
want to tell the world that the Israelis are the terrorists,"
Abu Shanab
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Meanwhile,
the 13 Palestinian factions who met with a high-ranking Egyptian
security delegation in Gaza city said Monday that no agreement on a
draft truce has been reached between the Palestinians and Israelis.
"In
the meeting there was no ceasefire proposal but only ideas within the
framework of the Palestinian dialogue to confirm the right to resist
occupation," AFP quoted as saying Mohammad al-Hindi, a senior
leader of the Islamic Jihad movement.
Hopes
of a truce deal had risen after Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil
Shaath predicted the resistance group Hamas might agree to a
"total ceasefire" in the next 48 hours.
But
participants emerged from two days of discussions with the Egyptians,
capped by a roundtable bringing together all main 13 Palestinian factions,
with no reports of major progress.
Ahmad
Hellis, Secretary General of the Fatah faction in the Gaza Strip, said
the parties discussed ending "some types of resistance" on
condition that Israel halted its "aggression" and released
prisoners.
Hellis
said a ceasefire was not on the meeting's agenda and explained that
"if there are international guarantees protecting the Palestinian
people and their resistance... it will be possible to reach a
ceasefire. Before then, there is no need to discuss it."
"We
confirmed that resistance was the right of the people," said
Hellis.
'Solidarity'
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“It
won’t let us relinquish our basic principle, ending the
occupation,” Shami
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For
his part, Ismail Abu Shanab, a senior Hamas leader, told reporters
after the three-hour meeting Monday that "the time is not for a
truce, the time is for solidarity ... in front of Israeli attacks
against our people."
"We
want to show our strength, we want to show our determination and we
want to tell the whole world that the Israelis are the terrorists in
the region," Abu Shanab said.
"Hamas
wants Israel to withdraw the occupation and wants to insist on
continuing the resistance," he added.
Representatives
of 13 Palestinian factions participated
in the meeting with the Egyptian delegation headed by deputy director
of the Egyptian Intelligence Agency Major General Mostafa El-Beheiry.
In
his meeting with the Egyptian delegation, Abdullah El-Shami of the
Islamic Jihad movement assured Monday that the delegation did not
submit any suggestions for consideration, stating that the main
perquisite for stopping attacks against Israel is ending the
occupation.
“The
Egyptian government did not submit any proposal. The meeting witnessed
a debate of the political reality and information sharing for the
interest of the Palestinian people at the current circumstances,”
El-Shami told AFP.
“We
focused during the meeting on the legitimacy of our right to resist
despite the difficulties witnessed by the region. Yet, this won’t
let us relinquish our basic principle, namely, ending the
occupation.”
For
his part, Rantissi told AFP Monday the Egyptian ceasefire
proposals were being considered.
"We
need to contact our leaders in the West Bank, in prison and abroad.
They should all have a word in the decision," he said.
"This
process is not limited to a ceasefire; the Egyptian proposal is much
vaster, and we need to study it," he stressed.
