Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Militants linked to Hamas and Fatah have agreed to work together to end the internal violence that has plagued Gaza, the Palestinian prime minister said early today, after two days of gun battles between the rival groups.
Israel said today it will give the Palestinians until the end of the year to prove they are willing to negotiate a final peace deal, and will unilaterally set its final borders by 2008 if they don’t.
The statement by Justice Minister Haim Ramon, a close associate of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s, was the first by an Israeli official to set a deadline for the Hamas-led Palestinian government to disarm and recognize the Jewish state.
The Palestinians’ moderate president, Mahmoud Abbas, of the rival Fatah party, has tried to persuade Israel to bypass Hamas and resume peace negotiations with him, but Olmert has made it clear that he is not prepared to negotiate with Abbas if Hamas doesn’t change its violent ways.
In Palestinian fighting, nine Palestinians, including five children on their way to school, were wounded in a gunfight in Gaza City. Each side blamed the other for triggering it.
Then, Hamas militants attacked the funeral procession in southern Gaza for a Fatah gunman killed Monday, setting off two bombs and opening fire. Fatah gunmen dropped to the ground and returned fire.
Three bystanders were wounded, hospital officials said.
Hamas and Fatah have been in a power struggle since Hamas won January parliamentary elections. Most members of the security forces are loyal to Fatah, and instead of trying to disarm them, Hamas has set up its own militia.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh summoned Hamas and Fatah leaders to his Gaza City office Tuesday for talks that ended early today. Haniyeh, flanked by Fatah activists, told reporters that the two sides agreed to put a stop to the violent clashes.
Haniyeh said they agreed that “dialogue is the only language to solve our differences.”
Ahmed Helas, a Fatah leader, read a joint statement with a pledge to work out problems peacefully and expel any member who uses weapons illegally.
The fighting broke out hours before the United States agreed to support a new program to temporarily funnel additional humanitarian aid directly to the Palestinian people.
