Abbas: Talks with Israel must continue, despite Gaza crisis - Haaretz

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		Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AP)

Last update - 17:57 22/01/2008

Abbas: Talks with Israel must continue, despite Gaza crisis

By The Associated Press

Tags: Mahmoud Abbas, Salam Fayyad

The Palestinians will continue peace talks with Israel, the moderate Palestinian president said Tuesday, his first public comment on the issue since Israel-Gaza fighting escalated last week.

Abbas has been under growing pressure at home to suspend the U.S.-backed
talks, which are to produce a peace deal in 2008.

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"Halting contacts with Israel is useless," he said. "On the contrary, we should intensify our contacts and our meetings to stop the suffering of our people."

Abbas also offered to have his government take control of the Palestinian side of Gaza crossings. Israel's refusal to deal with Hamas officials contributed to its decision to severely restrict the flow of people and goods in and out of Gaza after Hamas won parliament elections in 2006.

Hamas and Israel have not commented on the idea, but U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that the proposal is worth studying.

If Abbas loyalists were posted at the crossings, it could mean a resumption of relatively unhindered border traffic, easing Gaza's isolation and international sanctions against Hamas, which seized control of Gaza by force in June.

Hamas government spokesman Taher Nunu said the group would only react once he has received a formal proposal from Abbas.

In his speech, Abbas again condemned the rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli
border towns.

In London, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Tuesday. Following their meeting, Fayyad said in a joint press conference that the PA can negotiate a peace accord with Israel despite Hamas' rule in Gaza. He also stressed the importance that Israel open the Gaza crossings.

Miliband called for Israeli restraint and said that the international community had a role to play in calming tensions in the region.

"In Gaza, life has become completely unbearable, and that situation should not be allowed to continue," said Fayyad, whose government has little influence in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

"Political negotiations must be twinned with practical change on the ground, for security to be improved on both sides of the border, and for economic development for the Palestinian people," Miliband said, adding that the Gazans were enduring "unbearable deprivation."

"We need a process that is seen as credible, leading to a resolution of this long-standing conflict," Fayyad said before a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Related articles:

Israel agrees to lift aid ban on Gaza Strip for one day

Gaza power plant shuts down due to fuel blockade

Gazans struggle to keep warm facing fuel, electricity shortages

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1.	Fayyad,you slimy collaborator,a separate peace deal is not going	17:21	\|	lakshmi	22/01/08

2.	Don`t talk	18:17	\|	Dav	22/01/08

3.	War crimes	18:18	\|	Dav	22/01/08

4.	Israel`s War Crimes against Palestinians	18:20	\|	Dav	22/01/08

5.	Talks with Abbas should be stopped till QASSAMS STOP	18:24	\|	Vitttorio	22/01/08

6.	2,3,4,Dav,there is a Petition from 108 countries calling upon the	19:36	\|	lakshmi	22/01/08

7.	my welfare check should contineu no matter what!!!	19:54	\|	abbas	22/01/08

8.	Clarity	21:16	\|	Salty	22/01/08

9.	Are the talks worth something?	22:02	\|	KUTW	22/01/08

10.	A man who wants Peace with Israel who can`t	13:21	\|	Akram Zekaria	23/01/08

11.	9.kutw. Q., is there no peole in remnats of	00:28	\|	bozhidar balkas	24/01/08

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