Peace talking hold in Gaza?
Share Now on:
Peace talking hold in Gaza?
KAI RYSSDAL: The president’s set for talks with Iraqi President Nouri Al Maliki later this week in Jordan. The White House told reporters this afternoon the president will acknowledge a new phase of violence in Iraq. A bit farther west in the Middle East there’s talk of peace today.
Ben Gilbert has that story.
BEN GILBERT: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he’d make deep concessions to the Palestinians, including granting them a state, if the Hamas-led government recognizes Israel, renounces violence and frees an abducted Israeli soldier.
EHUD OLMERT [translator]: I hope very much they will show responsibility and goodwill. This could be the beginning of a serious, true and open direct negotiations between us and the Palestinian authority, between myself and Abu Mazen, in order to advance in the direction of a comprehensive settlement between us and the Palestinians.
Olmert’s offer comes one day after Israel and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to a ceasefire after five months of fighting in Gaza. An Abbas representative told the AP that Israel and the Palestinians would need to maintain the ceasefire along the Israeli-Gaza border, then extend it to the West Bank.
A Hamas representative told the AP that the ceasefire was not legitimate unless Israel stopped military operations in the West Bank. Those military operations led to a Palestinian rocket attack today from Gaza, though no one was injured.
In Beirut, I’m Ben Gilbert for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
