Both Israel and Palestine have agreed to meet for agreement

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I heard on CNN, that Israel and Palistine (Arafat) have agreed to stop fireing on each other and will meet to iron out a formal agreement. Now this is big news.

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2001

Answers

Wednesday, September 19 1:53 AM SGT

Israel, Palestinians declare truce under US pressure after terror attacks

JERUSALEM, Sept 18 (AFP) - The aftermath of the terror attacks on New York and Washington a week ago led the Israelis and the Palestinians to announce a ceasefire following pressure from the United States.

Neither the Israeli government nor the Palestinian Authority wanted to appear as if they were obstructing US President George W. Bush's efforts to create a broad anti-terrorist coalition including Arab countries.

For the first time since the failed US-brokered June 13 ceasefire, both parties declared a truce, which -- if it proves successful -- should lead to a meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The United States had pressured Prime Minister Ariel Sharon since last week to allow the much-anticipated meeting to take place, after the hardline leader had voiced his opposition to the project in the wake of the terror attacks.

But history has showed that ceasefires are often precarious, and several promises to stop the violence have not been held since the intifada erupted nearly a year ago.

A first breach of the truce was reported Tuesday evening, when the two sides exchanged fire in the flashpoint West Bank town of Hebron, leaving three Palestinians injured.

However, the context is different, and Arafat will do everything he can not to feed Israeli accusations according to which he heads a "terrorist campaign."

Arafat publicly reiterated his commitment to a ceasefire and his condemnation of suicide attacks carried out by radical Palestinian groups inside Israeli territory.

He also renewed his orders to his security services to enforce "the ceasefire on all fronts, and in every town and village."

"I also instructed them to exercise maximum self-restraint in the face of Israeli aggression and attacks," he added.

"We, Palestinians and Israelis, have to work together to break the vicious cycle of violence," he said, expressing his condemnation of attacks against civilians, whether carried out by Israelis or Palestinians.

For his part, Sharon has had to admit that his aggressive declarations against Arafat and the Palestinian Authority in the aftermath of the terror attacks have not impressed Washington.

The former general does not believe in the Palestinians' intention to respect the ceasefire and had opposed a meeting on Sunday, despite previously giving Peres a green light to hold face-to-face talks with Arafat to negotiate a ceasefire.

But following US pressure, he later agreed for such a meeting to take place after 48 hours of absolute calm.

"Undoubtedly the time has come to meet," Peres told CNN on Tuesday, adding that "once a ceasefire is in effect, then we can go into political discussions."

He described the current phase as a possible "turning point", and added that following the attacks in the United States, "the world is facing an unbelievable danger and has to put aside the secondary skirmishes."

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it would stop all its "offensive operations" against the Palestinians and announced its withdrawal from areas under full Palestinian control it had recently re-occupied.

"Offensive operations are suspended but of course we reserve the right to respond if attacked," the army spokesman said.

On Tuesday evening, Israeli tanks and troops pulled out of autonomous Palestinian zones they had occupied around Jenin in the north of the West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2001


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