Hamas to call “hudna”
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah will announce on Sunday a series of measures to end violence against Israelis, according to reports.
It is thought the truce or “hudna” is reachable if certain demands are met.
Although parties have to fine-tune the wording of the document setting out their proposals, it is expected the statement will propose “a three-months (truce) conditional on (Israel’s) stopping assassinations and raids.”
A Palestinian negotiator said Israel, for its part, must halt all military strikes before peace can be entertained.
“There is a shared document, which reflects a shared position, and was agreed on by Hamas, Jihad and Fatah. It will be announced very soon, within a few days,” Abdelaziz Al Rantissi said.
Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert has welcomed the move.
Separately, the US, a key broker of peace in the Middle East, and pivotal figure among the “Quartet” of nations affirming the “Road Map” to Palestinian statehood by 2005, welcomed the news.
US President Bush’s administration found grounds for optimism after a separate agreement was reached between Israel and the Palestinians on an Israeli troop pullback in Gaza and the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said: ‘This is a very positive development. It reflects the kind of movement that the president (George W. Bush) and the other leaders called for.
‘I would expect that in a couple of days security officials from both sides, commanders from both sides, would get down to the details of how it will be accomplished and how it will be monitored over time.
“It is an early step. A lot more has to happen in the days ahead to make sure that this opportunity is not lost, and this is the beginning of a long process.”
US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice is to arrive in the region on Saturday to discuss the implementation of the peace plan with the leaders of both sides.
