Saleh Al-Neami • Asharq Al-Awsat

GAZA, 17 June 2003 — Egyptian mediators yesterday left for home after failing to extract a promise from hard-line Palestinian groups to halt attacks against Israel. Participants at the talks on Sunday and yesterday said the parties would be invited by Egypt to continue the discussions in Cairo and reach an agreement.

But Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab said at a press conference alongside other hard-line leaders that “now is not the time for a truce” and Israel’s foreign minister demanded the militias be crushed, not courted.

Despite tough statements by Hamas, Palestinian officials were optimistic that a deal could be announced very soon. “I hope we’ll get some answers (from the militias) tomorrow,” said Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath.

Egyptian mediators told the Palestinian factions during the talks that they had been given American assurances that Israel will halt targeted killings of Palestinians suspected of involvement in violence.

The militias have said they will only consider stopping attacks — and only in Israel, not in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — if Israel promises to halt military strikes, including targeted killings. However, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would not make blanket promises.

After yesterday’s talks, Egypt was seeking firmer guarantees from the United States, possibly in writing, that Israel will halt targeted killings, an Egyptian diplomat said. The mediators will report to Washington and the so-called Quartet of mediators on the meetings with the hard-line leaders.

Sharon told his Cabinet on Sunday that he would not initiate military strikes in the event of a cease-fire, but would continue targeting “ticking bombs,” a term widely understood as referring to Palestinians about to carry out attacks.

However, Israeli officials later said Sharon defined “ticking bombs” much more broadly and that it included those who send bombers and other attackers. This would lower Israel’s threshold for continuing with targeted killings. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom yesterday rejected the idea of a deal with Hamas, saying Palestinian security forces have to dismantle militias, as required by a US-backed plan, the road map to Palestinian statehood by 2005. Shalom said a truce would simply allow hard-line groups to recover from Israeli strikes. “We can’t accept this (a cease-fire),” Shalom told Israel Radio.

Israel’s Parliament yesterday voted to back Sharon’s statement that a peace deal would be impossible unless the Palestinians cracked down on militant groups. Legislators, casting their ballots largely along party lines, voted 57 to 42 in Sharon’s favor in a non-binding resolution.

Palestinian Authority officials said they expected a cease-fire to be declared soon, and sources close to the talks said such an announcement could be made within 48 hours. “We are optimistic about reaching an agreement,” said Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr, but declined to say how soon it would be reached.

There were conflicting reports on whether the Egyptians proposed an open-ended truce or a limited cease-fire for several months. Going into the talks, leaders of Palestinian factions said they were ready to consider halting attacks in Israel, but not in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, such a partial truce would be unacceptable to Israel, the United States and Egypt.

Palestinian Prime Minster Mahmoud Abbas is to hold talks with the militia leaders in Gaza later.

The Egyptian-led talks coincided with the first mission to the region by Bush’s new envoy, veteran diplomat John Wolf, in an effort to put the peace plan back on track.

In parallel talks, Israeli and Palestinian security officials have been discussing possible Israeli troop withdrawals from the northern Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Bethlehem in exchange for a Palestinian pledge to rein in fighters in those areas.