Palestinian leaders reacted cautiously to remarks by
the Foreign Ministry's spokesman and argued that Israel should "unconditionally"
re-open peace talks under the U.S.-backed "road map" plan.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had previously refused to negotiate the
"unilateral disengagement plan" with Arafat, insisting that he was responsible
for four years of fighting. Arafat's death in a French hospital last week has
opened up what many leaders believe is a crucial opportunity to revive the
Middle East peace process by clearing the way for a more moderate leadership.
If leaders emerge who are willing to stem the violence, Israel is prepared to
coordinate the plan to move troops and 8,800 Jewish settlers out of the Gaza
Strip and four West Bank settlements, Israeli officials said Monday. Such
coordination is considered critical to avoid a chaotic transition.
"If the Palestinian Authority takes its commitments seriously under the road
map then many things that were not possible previously become possible," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "This includes coordinating the
disengagement plan."
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom alluded to the Israeli change in policy in a
speech to American Jews in Ohio on Sunday, Regev said.
Israel's security establishment is currently examining ways to work with
Palestinian security forces to hand them control of the Gaza Strip when Israel
withdraws, senior Israeli officials said Monday on condition of anonymity. The
recommendations will be discussed with Sharon in an upcoming meeting of senior
officials on the matter, the officials said.
Israeli and Palestinian officials alike have expressed fears that an
evacuation from Gaza that is not coordinated would bring chaos to the Gaza
Strip, where militant groups have been vying for control in recent months.
In a sign of the uncertainty, shots were fired in Gaza on Sunday as Mahmoud
Abbas, a leading candidate in Palestinian elections on Jan. 9, attended a
gathering of people mourning Arafat. Two security guards were killed, and fears
were raised that the violence could spiral.
The Israeli conditions for coordinating the disengagement plan include the
dismantling of militant groups, the collection of illegal weapons, an effort to
stop anti-Israeli incitement and security and financial reforms, a senior
Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.
In response, Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said he suspected the
Israelis would put up too many conditions for coordinating the pullout.
"Israel should talk to us unconditionally," Erekat told The Associated Press.
"This line of conditioning things ... has been the way government handles
things."
The Palestinian Authority is required in the road map to combat militant
groups.
The plan, backed by the United States, United Nations, the European
Union and Russia, was formally accepted by the sides in 2003 but never got
off the ground due to mutual accusations of violations.
Under the plan, Israel is slated to dismantle illegal settlement outposts and
freeze settlement activity but has been reluctant to do so. The plan calls for
an end to violence and the creation of a Palestinian state.
In another indication that Israel was pushing ahead with its implementation
of its Gaza pullout plans, an Israeli parliamentary committee approved the
allotment of almost $8 million to an authority overseeing the disengagement.
The decision cleared the way for the government to begin paying compensation
to Jewish settlers who evacuate voluntarily.
The plan outlines advance payments in compensation as an incentive to
settlers to lessen what settler leaders warn will be mass demonstrations to
prevent the dismantling of the settlements.
