Breaking the cycle
The Egyptians are down, but not out in trying to break the cycle of violence between the Palestinians and Israelis. Nevine Khalil and Soha Abdelaty look at this week's round
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Mubarak talking to reporters at the 24th Youth Expo about the threats to the roadmap
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A high-ranking Egyptian intelligence team was in Gaza on Sunday to negotiate a limited cease-fire agreement between Palestinian factions and Israel. The team, however, left the Palestinian territories the next day without a deal after the Palestinian groups refused to commit themselves to a cease-fire, but said they will continue to think about the Egyptian suggestion of a limited cease-fire.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to continue to pursue what he called "ticking bombs", implying that the policy of targeted assassinations will continue. It is this policy, say Egyptian officials, that began the most recent cycle of violence that is threatening the success of the roadmap initiative.
On Sunday, President Hosni Mubarak said that bringing the parties to sit together and make the roadmap a success would not only require US and Egyptian efforts, but also cooperation by the Israelis. "Sharon must help in these efforts," Mubarak told reporters after inaugurating the 24th Youth Expo. "This is for the sake of peace for his people and the Palestinian people." He added that the re-launch of talks will signal to the Palestinian and Israeli people that a solution will be reached.
Mubarak continued that Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) should also be given all the support he needs in order to reach an arrangement which safeguards the lives of civilians and reduces aggressions. "Violence will not abate by words alone; but also by hard work and toil," Mubarak said.
Soon after Mubarak made his statements, a delegation of Egyptian security and intelligence officials arrived in the Gaza Strip to continue talks with 13 Palestinian factions and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The mission of the delegation, headed by chief intelligence deputy Mustafa El-Beheiri, was to draft a joint national programme of action between the factions and Abbas' government. The talks aimed at ironing out sharp differences between the factions and Abbas, following his call on 4 June for an end to the armed struggle against Israel. If the militant Palestinians are on board, this would facilitate Abbas' job in keeping his side of the bargain in the roadmap.
Upon their arrival on Sunday, El- Beheiri's team met with the chiefs of security, intelligence and military intelligence in the Palestinian cabinet. Their itinerary was also composed of a series of separate meetings with the leaders of various factions, among whom was Hamas, which Bush described as obstacles to peace. The team wrapped up its visit on Monday with a roundtable discussion bringing together all the main Palestinian factions under the umbrella of the National and Islamic Forces.
But after two days of talks during which the delegation was unable to broker a truce, it extended an invitation for further talks in Cairo, according to Palestinians attending the meetings.
Cairo generally believes that Israeli aggression and intransigence are making it difficult for Egyptian mediation efforts to bear fruit. "We see Israel bombing civilians on a daily basis, which triggers reactions that lead us into a cycle of violence," said Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Saturday. "Israel has to stop its provocation and aggression against the Palestinian people so our efforts can succeed."
The leaders of the Palestinian factions whom the Egyptian delegation met shared the same sentiments. According to Mohamed Al-Hindi, a leader in the Islamic Jihad, "there is a possibility of avoiding civilian casualties if Israel ends its invasions, aggressions and assassinations." Ahmed Hals, secretary-general of the Fatah Movement, said that "the potential of halting some forms of resistance depends on Israel stopping its assassinations, releasing detainees and lifting the siege of the Palestinians and their leadership."
Hamas' Ismail Abu Shanab told reporters that the Egyptians had made proposals for Hamas to consider, but that a decision had not yet been taken. "We promised to study the ideas and give them an answer soon," said Abu Shanab. All three men denied that the idea of a truce or a cease-fire was ever on the table during the talks.
Sources close to the talks said the plan is for the Americans to try and press Israel to agree to end the targeted killings. If successful, the Palestinian groups would then agree to a truce. Egypt is seeking a written American guarantee of Israel's commitment on this issue, as well as troop withdrawals.
This strategy was timed with the arrival of the US monitoring team led by US Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf in Israel on Saturday. The team, mostly composed of State Department and CIA officials, is charged with determining the level of compliance by both sides to the terms of the roadmap and recommending the movement from one stage to the next.
Mubarak praised Washington's recent attempts to stem the violence and re-launch the peace talks. He said Egypt will continue its commitment to assist the parties in making the roadmap a success, "without imposing anything on any party". He added that once implementation of the roadmap begins, peace-keeping forces could be deployed. "A time may come when we will need someone to arbitrate between the two sides," Mubarak said. Although Israel agreed to "monitors" to oversee the implementation of the roadmap, it has already objected to the presence of peace-keeping forces.
Meanwhile, Egypt expects the US and European countries to pressure Israel into acting with restraint. Maher told his US counterpart, Colin Powell, in a telephone conversation last week that Israel must cease all operations that do not help in achieving Israel's security. On Saturday, Maher met with 15 ambassadors of European Union (EU) states in Cairo, as well as the European Commission ambassador. Maher said he asked European officials to support Egyptian efforts because a cease-fire deal requires "good-will intentions on both sides".
