Rice Says Talks Should Resume Quickly
By ANNE GEARAN
Associated Press
March 4, 2008
Page 2 of 2
Egypt's Aboul Gheit, whose country has sought to isolate Hamas, also stopped short of calling for a cease-fire. He said Egypt was seeking to convince Israel ''not to resort to excessive use of force.... The imbalance of power (between Hamas and the Israelis) must be taken into account.'' He said Egypt also urges the Palestinians to halt rocket fire.
Israel said it wants to continue negotiations, but suggested it also may launch a full-scale re-invasion of the Gaza territory it abandoned three years ago in a first step toward ending defensive occupation of lands the Palestinians claim for the state.
In Egypt, Rice asked President Hosni Mubarak and other officials for help controlling Gaza's small border with Egypt, site of a border breach in January that became something of a public relations coup for Hamas. Some Israeli military analysts think the more sophisticated longer-range rockets fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon in recent days probably came into Gaza during the week that fences with Egypt were down.
Rice was also looking for ways to speed aid into Gaza, sealed off for months as Israel tries to punish Hamas and break its rule. She said proposals from Egypt and the Palestinians to reopen a monitored border crossing point have merit.
Gaza and the Palestinian leadership split that underlies the crisis are the largest potential deal-killers for Bush's goal to sign a peace treaty before the close of his term in January.
Arab outrage over Israel's offensive in Gaza threatened to swamp what promise remained in the peace framework that Bush launched with international backing last fall. The talks have featured regular secret meetings between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators but no public breakthroughs.
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