State Department Condemns Gaza Attacks
AP
Date: 08-18-05
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON - Declaring that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza will increase trust with the Palestinians, the Bush administration called Thursday for revival of an accord that provides for Israeli withdrawal from several West Bank towns as well.
The agreement was reached in February by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Israel said it would withdraw from five towns on the West Bank and remove major roadblocks while Abbas promised to strengthen security measures.
Elaborating on an interview Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave The New York Times in which she urged Israel to take further steps after Gaza, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack cited the Sharon-Abbas agreement reached at the Eygptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik.
McCormack said the two sides should build on the "trust and confidence" of a hoped-for successful Gaza withdrawal and go on "to work on other issues such as the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings."
Also, McCormack said Israel should "ease the plight" of Palestinians passing through Israeli checkpoints and facilitate transit between Gaza and the West Bank.
While the administration was not suggesting a timetable, McCormack said, there are "obligations that are out there in terms of the road map and the Sharm el-Sheik understandings," referring also to a 2003 blueprint for peacemaking.
The spokesman also reiterated the administration's support for establishment of a Palestinian state, saying, "We stand by the Sharm el-Sheik understandings."
Israel withdrew from two of the five towns and then reoccupied one of them, suspecting it was a haven for militants attacking Israel.
The administration also appealed again to the Palestinian Authority to disarm Hamas and other militant groups that have attacked Israel.
Declaring that the State Department still considers Hamas a terrorist organization, McCormack said the road map obligated the Palestinian Authority to dismantle the group.
He said the Bush administration shared Israel's concerns of a Hamas buildup and said the United States was working with the Palestinian Authority to make its security forces more effective.
Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon, in an interview this week, disputed assertions of some Palestinian leaders that they lack the strength to take on Hamas and that that is due, in part, to Israeli forays into the West Bank and Gaza in the past to disable the Palestinian security setup.
"Do they have the means to do it? Absolutely," Ayalon said. "The Palestinian Authority has the support of the Palestinian people and has the manpower and weapons. There are 60,000 security people on the payroll, and that outnumbers Hamas 30 to 1."
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On the Net:
State Department: http://www.state.gov
CIA Factbook on Israel: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html
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