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Hamas to honor undeclared israel truce Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Hamas to Honor Undeclared Israel Truce
Hamas to Honor Undeclared Truce With Israel, Refrain From Officially Joining Cease-Fire
By IBRAHIM BARZAK
The Associated Press
Feb. 12, 2005 - The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said Saturday they will not attack Israeli targets, but they refrained from officially joining a Palestinian cease-fire with Israel agreed upon during last week's summit in Egypt.
Earlier, Israel agreed to repatriate all the Palestinians it deported to the Gaza Strip and Europe on terror accusations. The majority 39 of about 55 were exiled after a monthlong siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002.
In the fast-paced moves to cement the truce, Israel said it will transfer control of the West Bank town of Jericho to the Palestinians this coming week. As part of the cease-fire, Israel has pledged to return five West Bank towns including Tulkarem, Qalqiliya, Bethlehem and Ramallah to Palestinian control within three weeks.
Leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad met Saturday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is trying to keep the fragile cease-fire intact and end four years of fighting.
A Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, told The Associated Press the group will wait to see whether Israel stops its military activities and targeted killings of Palestinian militants before deciding whether to join the truce agreed upon by Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Zahar said after meeting with Abbas that Hamas was "committed to what is called 'quietness'" until it determines whether Israel meets its truce obligations, including disclosing the criteria for releasing Palestinian prisoners.
"Up to this moment, we are committed to the previous agreement with Mr. Abbas, and we are going to see how the Israelis" will act, Zahar told the AP.
Hamas, which opposes Israel's existence, pledged to Abbas it would stop attacks against the Jewish state as part of a general halt to violence by all militant groups. Hamas has killed hundreds of Israelis during the past four years of fighting.
The conditional accession of the militant groups to the overall truce, Israel's agreement to let the Palestinian return home and turn Jericho back to Palestinian control all furthered the momentum to a firm truce. But the Israeli government official gave no timetable for the return home of the deported exiles. One of the exiles, Ghanem Sweilem, told reporters in Gaza City Saturday that they expect to return home within a week or two.
"Today, we received good news that an agreement was reached with the Israeli side to allow us to return to our cities ... each to his home, each to his city, within a short period of time," said Sweilem, who was exiled from his home in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus more than two years ago.
The repatriation of the deportees is part of a larger controversy over the release of Palestinian prisoners. Israel has agreed to free 900 of the estimated 8,000 Palestinian prisoners it is holding, but the Palestinians want a broader release and freedom for those imprisoned before the September 1993 peace accords.
Five hundred of the 900 prisoners are expected to be released soon. A ministerial committee on prisoner releases is to meet Sunday, Israel Radio said.
Israel has also agreed to lift travel restrictions in parts of the West Bank and abandon several major checkpoints as part of the handover. The easing of restrictions would be a major dividend from the cease-fire for ordinary Palestinians, because the restrictions on the flow of people and goods have caused them severe economic hardship.
The cease-fire has coincided with renewed action on the part of the U.S. to get an internationally backed Mideast peace plan known as the "road map" back on track.
The new U.S. security coordinator for the Middle East, Army Lt. Gen. William E. Ward, is to make his first trip to the region later this month.
In Munich, Germany, NATO's top diplomat said Saturday that the alliance should be ready to play a major role in supporting peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians if asked for help. Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he planned to go to Israel next week, the first such visit by a NATO secretary-general.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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