Monday, March 03, 2008

Abbas halts contacts with Israel

From ABC News, 3/3/08:

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas formally suspended all contacts with Israel in protest at the blitz on the Gaza Strip .....

...."Suspending peace talks is a mistake and it gives the keys to the negotiations to Hamas," a senior Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity....

....Israeli leaders have meanwhile insisted that their Gaza operation would actually further the peace process by weakening the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the territory - a foe of both Abbas and Israel.

"No-one can deny that targeting Hamas will strengthen the chances for peace. The more Hamas is weakened the greater the chances are for peace," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

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