The Palestinians will continue peace talks with Israel, the moderate Palestinian president said yesterday, his first public comment on the issue since Israel-Gaza fighting erupted last week.
Abbas has been under growing pressure at home to suspend the US-backed talks, which are to produce a peace deal in 2008. "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 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday 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 another development, Israel yesterday resumed fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip's main power plant, offering limited respite from a blockade that plunged much of the Hamas-ruled territory into darkness and touched off international protests.
The shipment included at least three days' worth of European Union-funded fuel for the generating plant, which shut down on Sunday after Israel sealed border crossings in what it termed a response to Palestinian cross-border rocket salvoes. "We can restart production 12 hours after the fuel arrives," said Derar Abu Sissi, the plant's general director.
Israel said it would also allow in 500,000 litres of diesel for generators, a supply of cooking gas and 50 trucks of food and medicine, though restrictions on petrol for cars remained.
"Our approach now is to assess what is acutely lacking, and permit imports on that basis," Israeli Defence Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said.
The European Union and international agencies denounced the Israeli closure as illegal "collective punishment" against Gaza's 1.5 million residents, many of whom depend on foreign aid. Gazans stockpiled food and medical officials.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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