LOC11:07
08:07 GMT
(WITH MIL-MIDEAST-ISRAEL-GAZA)
GAZA, Dec 22 (KUNA) -- The Palestinian Authority is deeply concerned at
deteriorating conditions in and around Gaza Strip following recent Israeli
armed offensives and air strikes, said the Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb
Oreikat.
Israel's escalation there is dangerous, has various implications and may
snowball into a major offensive on the strip, said Oreikat, alluding to
recurring deadly Israeli air strikes on the Hamas-held enclave.
Oreikat warned Israel that "military solutions will achieve nothing, rather
they will create further complications and push conditions to the brink of
violence and chaos and more blood spilling."
His warning came as the Israeli media reported that the authorities in Tel
Aviv planned to "restore deterrence" against the Islamic Hamas, hinting at the
intention to step up military action on Gaza. On Tuesday, the Israeli Chief of
Staff Gabi Ashkenazi described conditions in the strip as fragile. And on
Sunday, the Israeli Army decided to deploy armored units along the demarcation
line of the region, in retaliation for mounting rocket attacks on southern
Israel.
In the statements to KUNA, Oreikat charged the Israelis with using the
inter-Palestinian divide as an excuse in front of the world for abstaining
from serious settlement talks.
The Israelis would like to see the divisions among the Palestinians persist
because these rifts serve their strategic interests, he said. "They have been
saying since the start that they are satisfied with what has happened in the
strip (the fight between Hamas and Fatah) and would like to see this coup
persists .. now their alibi to the world that there is no party to make peace
with," he added.
Hamas, which firmly advocates armed struggle against Israel, took over Gaza
in bitter fighting with Fatah in 2007, thus liquidating authority in the strip
of President Mahmoud Abbas, who doubles as the number one in command of the
mainstream group.
"The situation is very much alarming and we will exert every possible
effort to restore national unity and accomplish the conciliation as an
objective that must be realized first, and we will continue defending our
people with all available means," said the veteran Palestinian official in the
interview with the Kuwaiti news agency.
Israel, he says, is staging a global campaign "against us called the
partner non-existence portraying president Abbas as a problem in the face of
the peace process .. for his adherence to our rights in Jerusalem, the plights
of the refugees and the prisoners and the removal of the settlements."
Oreikat held Israel responsible for the stalemate paralyzing the peace
process, re-stressing that Tel Aviv must first cease construction of
settlements it wished to pursue the peace negotiations.
Moreover, he called on the United States to issue an official statement in
reaction to media reports about an undeclared accord between Washington and
Tel Aviv on allowing continuous "natural growth" of the Jewish settlements in
the occupied territories.
Washington has officially declared it is abandoning efforts to coerce Tel
Aviv shelve settlement schemes but confirms its commitment to pursuing the
process on other core issues.
The process is paralyzed amid reports that the Palestinians are focusing
attention and political efforts on winning further international recognition
of their aspired state, after at least three Latin American states made
declarations in this respect. (end)
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