MIDEAST: Israeli PM Olmert may offer Abbas amnesties aimed at strengthing the moderate Palestinian leadership against its rival Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday (July 16) to discuss selective security amnesties designed to shore up his West Bank administration against rival Hamas Islamists. The meeting at Olmert's Jerusalem residence lasted about two hours. Neither Abbas nor Olmert commented after it broke up. Israel has described its decision to free 250 low-security Palestinian prisoners, mostly from Abbas's Fatah faction, and suspend kill-or-capture missions against 180 Fatah gunmen, as goodwill gestures that could beget new peace talks with Abbas. Such summits have been taking place every few weeks, billed by both sides as confidence-building talks. Though Abbas does not extend his power to Gaza since Hamas seized control of the coastal strip, Israel would continue to allow humanitarian assistance to get into Gaza, Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said. In Gaza, Hamas officials denounced the meeting, and the offers being made by Olmert. Fawzi Barhoum is a spokesman for Hamas. "It's clear that there is such a rush from Abbas's side to meet with the occupying Israeli government - security meetings, high level meetings, and the only beneficiary is the Israelis. One of the funny situations is to see President Abbas closing and making sure the doors are locked in the face of any Palestinian-Palestinian discussion. Whereas he is forming a complete partnership with the Israelis," Barhoum said. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who still considers himself prime minister and runs a Gazan administration, decried what he called "political bribes" aimed at increasing internal Palestinian divisions. Israelis and Palestinian across the region raised different voices on Monday. In Tel Aviv one resident Abe Rosenfeld hoped the meeting could bring about change. "It is always good when people meet and some good results can come out of it. If you talk then you come to agreements. You can listen one to each other and good things can come out of it," he said. A resident of the West Bank city of Hebron, Amer Tamimi, was less optimistic. "I don't expect that any progress could be achieved because I believe that Israel is not concerned really in discussing the fundamental issues concerning solving the Palestinian trouble. We all hope that real progress could be achieved and real issues like settlements, like prisoners, like the security walls, like the issue of Jerusalem, are really discussed and frankly discussed and finally solved," he said. With 1.5 million Palestinians under Hamas rule in Gaza and the Islamist group, which swept legislative elections last year, refusing to recognise Abbas's dissolution of its government, the Western-favoured president needs to find a way forward. Olmert, weakened domestically by last year's Lebanon war, has so far balked at discussing final-status issues with Abbas such as the fate of Jerusalem, borders and Palestinian refugees.

ITN Source | July 16, 2007

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