BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The escalating
Palestine-Israel conflicts are triggered by Israel and the international
community should put more pressure on Israel to settle the longtime conflicts,
said a Palestinian envoy Monday in Beijing, while an Israeli diplomat accused
the Hamas of causing the on-going Gaza conflicts.
Ahmad K. Mussa (L), Minister Counsellor
of the Palestinian Embassy to China, talks with the
Xinhuanet editor Li Baodong during an interview in Beijing on Monday
afternoon, Jan. 5, 2009.(Xinhuanet Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
In an exclusive interview with the Xinhuanet,
the online news service of the Xinhua News Agency, Ahmad K. Mussa, Minister
Counsellor of the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing said the fact that Israel
failed to lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip under a deal reached by
the two sides last June has triggered the conflicts.
"Under the agreement, Israel should have changed its
previous policy. It not only failed to do so, but also intensify the blockage,
preventing Gazans from access to food, fuel and medicines." Mussa said.
Meanwhile, Amos Nadai, Ambassador of Israel to China,
in a separate interview, said that the Hamas should be responsible for the
conflicts, and that the current operation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
only aimed to destroy military targets of Hamas.
Amos Nadai (L), Ambassador of Israel to
China, talks with the Xinhuanet editor Li Baodong during an
interview in Beijing on Monday afternoon, Jan. 5, 2009.(Xinhuanet
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
"The aim of the operation of the IDF is to end
military activities of Hamas but not to target against the Palestinian people,
nor the population of Gaza," said Nadai.
Israel began airstrikes against Hamas-controlled Gaza
on Dec. 27 and carried out a ground operation on Jan. 3, 2009, leaving 514
people killed and thousands wounded.
The Palestinian envoy also blamed Israel for being
"the only country in the world not to comply with UN resolutions" and urged that
pressure should be imposed on Israel to realize Middle East process at an
earlier date.
Responding to the remarks made by the U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama, in which Obama encouraged Israel and Palestine to
continue peace talks, Ahmad K. Mussa said that the peace talks "could last for
50 years" without any practical results if no super power put pressure on
Israel.
Whereas the Israeli ambassador said that during the
past eight years, southern Israelis have been living under the shadow of rocket
attacks from the Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, Nadai said that the Israeli
government is determined to destroy Hamas terror infrastructure in order to
bring a safe environment to both southern Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza.
Nadai agreed that the current "Israeli operation has
harmed some civilians in Gaza," but adding "the international community should
press more on the Hamas to end the conflict, not only on Israel."
When asked about the best solution for the conflict,
the Israeli envoy said," Over the past 10 years, we have been discussing with
the Palestinians about how to solve this problem. Our idea is very clear that
there are two countries, one is the State of Israel, and the other is a
Palestinian state, and the State of Israel and the Palestinian state can
co-exist, which is recognized by both sides. We need to do more on the peace
process."
"For us, peace is our strategic option, because it
serves our interests. Then we can live peacefully with our neighbors, we hope to
achieve this goal as soon as possible," Nadai added.
Smokes rise following an Israeli
airstrike on an area known to have smuggling tunnels in Rafah, in the
southern Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, Jan. 3, 2009.(Xinhua
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
Answering the same question, Mussa praised the Arab
Peace Initiative, adopted by 14th Arab summit held in Beirut in March 2002, as
an ideal way towards peace among many other recommendations on the settlement of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel so far has not declared whether it will
accept this initiative.
The Arab Peace Initiative is a proposed solution to
the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in
particular. Its main contents include full Israeli withdrawal from all the
territories occupied since 1967, a just solution to the Palestinian refugee
problem and the acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent
Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
After the above-mentioned conditions have been met,
the Arab countries will enter into a peace agreement with Israel, establish
normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace and
provide security for all the states of the region, according to the peace
initiative.
GAZA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Israeli tanks on Monday
entered Zayton neighborhood in Gaza City, exchanging fire fiercely with Hamas
militants, local witness said. Full story
GAZA, Jan. 4
(Xinhua) -- Israel on Sunday intensified strikes on the Gaza Strip for the ninth
consecutive day, a day after its army carried out a large-scale ground operation
into the enclave, leaving 514 people killed since Dec. 27.
Israeli warplanes struck by missiles dozens of targets
into Gaza on Sunday as columns of tanks rolled deep into the enclave on Saturday
night, cutting it into two separate areas, Hamas local Radio Station al-Aqsa
Radio said. Full story
JERUSALEM, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- As Israeli ground
troops fight their way in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, various signs indicate
that the government and army have to accomplish a substantial achievement in
what Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called an "unavoidable" incursion.
Under the cover of artillery and aerial fire, Israeli
tanks rumbled into the coastal area on Saturday night with infantry troops,
combat engineers and intelligence units, escalating the so-called Operation Cast
Lead to its second phase in Israel's blistering efforts to end the continuing
rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. Full story
JERUSALEM, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The aim of the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) Cast Lead Operation in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip was
to change the political and security situation in south Israel, Israeli Defense
Minister Ehud Barak said Monday.
"We are striving for a new reality in which there won't be
activity from Gaza against Israeli civilians or our soldiers, a situation which
will dramatically change the state of smuggling and in which quiet will prevail
in the south," said the defense minister. Full story
Smokes rise following an Israeli
airstrike on an area known to have smuggling tunnels in Rafah, in the
southern Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, Jan. 3, 2009.(Xinhua
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
GAZA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance
services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, said that three more Palestinian
paramedics were killed by Israeli airstrike on Sunday evening.
Hassanein said the three were rescuing the injured inside
a house, which was damaged in southern Gaza City, where another airstrike took
place, killing the paramedics. Full story
RABAT, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Scores of thousands of Moroccans
took to the streets on Sunday in the capital Rabat to condemn the Israeli
"barbarous" offensive on Gaza, and denounce the Arab and international silence.
There were fifty thousands according to police figures,
and far more according to organizers, to take to Rabat's main streets and
strongly denounce the Israeli raids, and call for the immediate halt of the
offensive. Full story
RAMALLAH, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian negotiator Saeb
Erekaton Sunday accused Israel that it is burying the peace process after it
enlarged military operations in the Gaza Strip and killed more than 500
Palestinians.
"The Israeli government is burying the peace process by
escalating its military actions in the Gaza Strip," Erekat said in a statement
sent to the press hours after Israel launched a ground operation into Gaza on
Saturday night. Full story
JERUSALEM,
Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation against Palestinian
militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip will be neither short nor easy,
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Saturday evening.
Barak made the remarks while addressing the nation in a
special televised press conference following the launch of the IDF ground
incursion. Full story
