United States Rededicating Itself to Middle East Peace Process
27 October 2006
State Department official says Hamas not responding to calls to renounce terror
Washington -- The United States is renewing its efforts to restart a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, seeking to do “practical work on the ground,” according to the top State Department diplomat on the Middle East.
“Now that the ‘Eid [al-Fitr] holiday is finishing up, … we’re going to re-devote ourselves to making this progress,” C. David Welch, assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs, told reporters at the State Department October 27.
Asked about the possibility of an international conference to discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, Welch said the United States is happy to have discussions and meetings, but “what definitely counts is what goes on, on the ground.”
He said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent trip to the region made progress on issues related to access and movement in Gaza. (See related article.)
However, Welch acknowledged continued “difficulties on both sides,” citing the continued plight of an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped in Gaza in June plus divisions among Palestinian leaders between President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
“Regrettably, despite all efforts to encourage some form of agreement by the Hamas government to the conditions that President Abbas laid out in the [U.N.] General Assembly … there’s still no answer from them, or any answer that comes is not a positive answer. That’s really an unfortunate situation,” Welch said.
The international community has demanded that Hamas renounce terrorism and recognize Israel’s right to exist for the Palestinian Authority to receive additional international aid. However, Hamas has yet to agree to those demands, and the organization withdrew from a tentative agreement it made with Abbas that established guidelines for a Palestinian unity government after Abbas told the U.N. General Assembly September 22 that the incoming unity government would meet the international community’s requirements.
Welch also responded to press reports that Palestinian Interior Minister Said Siyam has been soliciting funds from countries such as Iran, but said the organization has not been able to raise a substantial amount of money.
“I think if you check very carefully you will see that all efforts by Hamas to raise funds from governments have come up with pitiably small results,” he said, and suggested the interior minister instead devote his efforts to “staying home and taking care of the law and order situation.”
For more information on U.S. policy, see The Middle East: A Vision for the Future.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
