PA officials were seeking fresh truce talks with Palestinian factions on Monday after Egyptian-brokered attempts to secure a comprehensive cease-fire failed.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and three other Palestinian factions (PFLP, Saiqa and PFLP-GC) on Sunday rejected an Egyptian proposal they halt all attacks against Israelis for the sake of ending Israeli operations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
But members of Fatah movement said they would not accept 'No' as the final answer and would try to persuade the factions to change their minds. "The dialogue with the factions will continue inside the occupied territories, and the Palestinian cabinet will pursue its peace efforts despite the collapse of the Cairo talks," senior Fatah official Ahmed Ghneim told Reuters in Egypt.
Ghneim blamed Hamas decision to reject the truce on the movement's misreading of the political climate. "They had a very weird analysis of the international situation. They believe the United States, the Palestinian Authority and
Israel are in a crisis, while they are not."
For its part, Hamas declared willingness to declare a truce that would spare civilians on both sides with certain conditions attached but Fatah and its allied factions opposed such an article.
Meanwhile, Israeli police and security forces were on high alert Monday morning south of Tel Aviv, after receiving warnings that a Palestinian might have infiltrated into Israel to carry out a suicide boming attack. Police erected roadblocks in the area, causing heavy traffic jams.
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
