Israeli Premier: no advancement at peace until PA meets its security obligations

Sunday December 30, 2007 17:58 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC&Agencies

Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said on Sunday that Israel would not advance peace with the Palestinians until the Palestinian Authority meets its security obligations.

Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert/ archive photo

Olmert was speaking to a regular cabinet meeting on Sunday, addressing a series of issues including the latest Palestinian attack on Israelis in the West Bank city of Hebron.

" Unless the Palestinian Authority fulfills the security demands , Israel will not be able to make any progress on the ground", Olmert was quoted as saying.

Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have not advanced since the U.S-sponsored peace summit has been launched in November27, with Israel declaring new settlement plans, which Palestinian view a stumbling block in the road to peace.

On Friday two Israelis were killed in a drive-by shooting attack by Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled area of Kiryat Arba' settlement in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Palestinians maintain incomplete control over the Palestinian city, the way in other various West Bank cities, towns and refugee camps, according to an interim Palestinian-Israeli agreement, known as Oslo accords of 1993.

With the outbreak of Palestinian Intifada 'uprising' in 2003, Israeli-Palestinian violence has been on rise, with Israel carrying out a series of attacks and actions, including more settlements building, construction of a separation wall, and with Palestinians escalating resistance.

According to the U.S-backed road map peace blueprint of 2003, Israel is obliged to halt all settlement activities on occupied Palestinian lands, as the PA is demanded to crack down of Palestinian resistance groups.

Last month, Washington launched a peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, in order to revive stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process on basis of a two-state solution.

Since Annapolis summit has been convened, two rounds of talks have failed due to renewed Israeli settlement plans in the occupied east Jerusalem.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, told PA's president Mahmoud Abbas, who now wrestles control over the West Bank, that Israel would refrain from any settlement activities.

The Gaza Strip, from which Palestinian resistance factions continue to launch homemade shells onto nearby Israeli territories, is now controlled completely by the Islamist Hamas group.

israel | peace process | news report rami at imemc dot org