Israeli envoy, Abbas meet
Netanyahu gives stance on peace talks in delivered letter
JERUSALEM — An Israeli envoy met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday and delivered a letter from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu detailing his government’s stance on stalled peace negotiations.
Yitzhak Molcho held talks with Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinians’ government.
Netanyahu’s office later issued a joint statement that said “Israel and the Palestinian Authority are committed to achieving peace and the sides hope that the exchange of letters between President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu will further this goal.”
A senior Israeli official said the letter, which followed a letter from Abbas to Netanyahu last month, contained “Israel’s call to resolve all outstanding issues between the two peoples and resume direct negotiations, and to move ahead according to the formula articulated by the quartet,” a reference to the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
Israeli media reported that Israel had called for renewed peace talks without preconditions. Palestinians are demanding that Israel cease settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas they claim as part of their future state, before talks can begin.
With Netanyahu’s having formed a new unity government in Israel last week, significantly broadening his coalition and thus his power, Abbas said he was hopeful that there might soon be movement on the long-stalled process because what he called Netanyahu’s “pretext” of a fragile coalition had been removed.
“Now he is the emperor, or the king of Israel, he can do anything,” Abbas said. “If I were him, I would do it now, now, now — not to wait.”
Also, talks were under way Saturday between Palestinian prisoners and Israeli officials to end a mass hunger strike that began last month to protest jail conditions, and both sides expressed optimism that they will reach agreement soon.
“The next 24 hours are crucial,” Palestinian Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqi said on Palestinian radio Saturday morning. He said Egyptian mediators were assisting with negotiations.
More than 1,600 prisoners launched a hunger strike April 17 to demand an end to solitary confinement, an increase in family visits and the restoration of privileges, such as the right to study, that were stripped in 2006 after the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit by Gaza Stripbased militants. Schalit was released last year.
According to prison officials, at least 1,600 of the 4,600 Palestinians held by Israel are refusing food. Palestinians say about 2,500 prisoners are taking part in the hunger strike.
Two prisoners who have refused food since Feb. 28 are demanding that Israel end their “administration detention,” a practice in which Israel holds Palestinians indefinitely without charges or trial. The two men are believed to be in serious condition.
Israel has defended administrative detentions as a necessary tool to stop militant activity.
The men, Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab, are members of Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group that has killed hundreds and maimed many more in suicide bombings, shootings and other attacks.
Qaraqi said he expected their cases to be included in any settlement.
Israel’s prisons service says the striking Palestinians are under constant medical supervision and are in stable condition.
The Egyptian-brokered talks mark the first time that substantive negotiations have been reported to be under way to defuse the protest since it began weeks, and in some cases months, ago.
Israeli officials declined to comment on the talks, but of- ficials told Israeli media that they hope to end the strike in the coming days. As a goodwill gesture, they agreed to release two prominent prisoners from solitary confinement.