US Vice President Dick Cheney has warned the Palestinians that attacks on Israel are killing hopes for their ‘long overdue’ state, as his Easter weekend peace push comes to a close.
Mr Cheney made his first trip as Vice-President to the West Bank for talks with President Mahmoud Abbas, following a string of meetings with senior Israeli leaders, with whom he also discussed Iran.
Mr Cheney did not address the news that Fatah and Hamas had agreed to open direct talks.
Rival Palestinian factions are at odds over the meaning of a deal they signed today in Yemen, with Fatah rejecting Hamas claims it is solely a ‘framework’ for talks.
‘The two movements Hamas and Fatah have agreed to accept the Yemeni initiative as a framework for dialogue between the two movements and a return of the Palestinian situation to what it was before the events in Gaza,’ said the text of the declaration.
But while Hamas focused on the first part of the statement, Fatah highlighted the second as a precondition for any talks.
‘The relaunch of a dialogue in the future depends on the implementation of the Yemeni initiative on every point, and not on treating it as a framework for dialogue because that will not lead to any result,’ said a spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the Yemen deal was a ‘framework for dialogue’ between the two factions who have not held direct contacts since the Islamists routed Abbas forces from Gaza in June.
‘That means it is a framework for dialogue and not a set of preconditions for implementation. The dialogue will focus on the Palestinian situation, and not only in Gaza,’ he said.
The two largest Palestinian factions have been bitterly divided for more than nine months, with President Abbas repeatedly demanding that Hamas return Gaza to his control as a precondition to any negotiations.
Hamas has always called for dialogue, but without any preconditions.
