19 February 2003
U.S. Remains Committed to Two-State Solution in Middle East
(Israel urged to prevent civilian casualties; Palestinians, to end
terror) (670)
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher told the press on February
19 that the United States remains committed to a two-state solution in
the Middle East. He urged Israel to take steps to prevent civilian
casualties, and he pressed the Palestinians to end terror and
violence. Boucher was speaking at the regular noon briefing at the
State Department.
"Our focus is on moving forward in a way that makes possible
implementation of the President's June 24th vision of two states,
Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,"
Boucher said.
Boucher said Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
William Burns has been in London February 18-19 for talks with
representatives of Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations
on promoting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The four parties
are known as the Quartet when dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian
issue.
Boucher added that the U.S. is very concerned about civilian
casualties among Palestinian children and young people, resulting from
Israeli military actions in the West Bank and Gaza. He also called
upon the Palestinians to stop using terror and violence as political
tools.
Following is an excerpt from Boucher's February 19 State Department
noon briefing containing his remarks about the Middle East peace
issue:
(begin excerpt)
Q: Do you have anything about progress of lack of progress at the
Quartet talks in London?
And are there any comments about what is happening in Gaza?
Boucher: I don't have anything brand new about London. Assistant
Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Bill Burns is in London
for meetings with his Quartet counterparts yesterday and today. Our
focus on moving forward in a way - our focus there remains on moving
forward in a way that makes possible implementation of the president's
June 24th vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by
side in peace and security. As the secretary stated in his February 6
appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he and the
president remain committed to the road map as the best means of
achieving that goal. I can give you the remarks that Assistant
Secretary Burns gave at the conference. I think we find this to be an
important meeting. The ad hoc liaison committee was meeting there as
part of these activities with the Quartet counterparts and the others
involved in this process.
As far as the outgoing violence, we remain very concerned about
civilian casualties that have arisen from the ongoing violence,
especially among Palestinian children and young people. These
casualties continue to result from Israeli military actions in the
West Bank and Gaza. We've continued to urge the Israeli government to
take appropriate precautions to prevent the death or injury of
innocent civilians and damage to civilian and humanitarian
infrastructure. We've also urged the Israeli government to facilitate
the movement of humanitarian personnel and supplies and provide
medical attention to those in serious need as expeditiously as
possible. We remain in close communication with the Israeli and
Palestinian leaders to calm the situation and prevent further
bloodshed.
At the same time, as we've made very, very clear before, we recognize
the need for Israel to take legitimate anti-terrorist actions. There
can be no excuse to the violence and the terrorist attacks the Israeli
people have been forced to endure.
We're pressing the Palestinians to do all they can to end immediately
the terror and violence, and work to restore active security contacts,
to - and to dismantle the infrastructure that supports terrorists and
violence. Progress towards the realization of Palestinian aspirations
and the president's vision is simply impossible while violence and
terrorist attacks continue unabated. And you'll see, in the statement
that Assistant Secretary Burns had, he made very clear any workable
diplomatic approach must be predicated on an end to violence and
terror as a political tool, period.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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