The Bush administration has proposed a detailed timetable for easing Palestinian movement and improving Israeli security in the coming months, officials said Friday. However, the document, published in the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz daily, has slim chances of implementation.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, told his Fatah Party after a return from Europe that he has made no progress toward lifting an international embargo of the Palestinian unity government. According to an Arabic newspaper Abbas is considering early elections.
Deadlines outlined in the document, which range from May 1 to August 1, are only binding if the sides accept it, Haaretz said.
An official in the Israeli prime minister's office said some of the ideas contained in the document were already at various stages of implementation, citing relaxed restrictions at the Karni cargo crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip. "There are a few Israel will not be able to address at present because of security concerns," the official added, according to the AP.
The U.S. document calls on the sides to start implementing the so-called roadmap that outlines a return to peace talks. The measures include an Israeli removal of West Bank roadblocks to facilitate Palestinian travel, and Palestinian action to stop the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
On Saturday, the top leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, dismissed the measure, telling Al Jazeera satellite TV that Palestinians should not agree to halt rocket fire in exchange for an easing of travel restrictions. "I swear it's a joke ... the equation has now become: dismantling the checkpoints, in exchange for [giving up] resistance," he said. "This has become the Palestinian cause."
