Palestinian factions, the real makers or breakers of the truce declared in Sharm El-Sheikh, are setting their conditions in Gaza, Khaled Amayreh reports The ultimate success of the Sharm El- Sheikh summit is likely to hinge on Israel's willingness to release thousands of Palestinian resistance and political detainees. This is the message the leaders of the various Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas, have been communicating to an Egyptian security delegation now visiting the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian delegation has been trying to obtain from the Palestinian factions a commitment to a more durable ceasefire with Israel. The delegate reportedly promised that Egypt would seek to put up a "comprehensive deal" including the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinians, however, are sceptical, given Israel's notorious intransigence on the matter of Palestinian prisoners, hundreds of whom have been languishing in Israeli detention centres for over two decades. Shortly after the announcement of the ceasefire, Hamas was adamant about making clear their position regarding the outcome of the summit. "The talk about what the leader of the Palestinian Authority called a cessation of acts of violence is not binding on the resistance because this is a unilateral stance and was not the outcome of an intra-Palestinian dialogue as has been agreed previously," Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, told the Associated Press. Hamas, nonetheless, agreed to give the ceasefire "a chance" pending the "revelation of Israeli intentions". However, the Islamic resistance movement has renewed its warning that it will not agree to an "open-ended ceasefire" if Israel refuses to reciprocate and meet Palestinian conditions. "We told our Egyptian brothers that we will observe a de facto ceasefire for a period of time pending the unmasking of the Israeli position on the paramount issue of the prisoners," said Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas's political leader in Gaza, following his meeting with the Egyptian delegation in Gaza on Monday night. Zahar also warned against a return to the "Oslo-style games of procrastination and equivocation". "I would like to remind everybody that the problem in this part of the world is this Satanic Zionist occupation. If the world does not see to it that the occupation comes to an end, then no ceasefire will hold." According to Hamas spokesman in the West Bank, Hassan Youssef, the movement has told the Egyptian delegation that Hamas will not agree to an open-ended ceasefire unless Israel is willing to free Palestinian prisoners. "We told them Israel must end its criminal incursions and assassination and, above all, release our prisoners. These are not only Hamas's demands. These are the demands of all Palestinian factions and the Palestinian masses at large." He added, "[This] is not us versus Mahmoud Abbas; it is rather us versus Israel; because if the international community is unable to get [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon to free our POWs and detainees, it will not be able to get him to end the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem without which no peace can be reached." Israel has signalled a willingness to "suspend" assassinations of Palestinian activists and leaders and halt military incursions into Palestinian areas. However, the Israeli government has indicated that no more than 900 Palestinian prisoners, out of the estimated 9,000 political and resistance prisoners, now detained by Israel, will be freed. Also, Israeli leaders, including President Moshe Katsav, have been making statements vowing to keep Palestinians "with blood on their hands" behind bars. Palestinian officials dismissed the Israeli statements as "insulting", warning that the current window of opportunity will be wrecked unless Israel reciprocates Palestinian goodwill. Abdullah Abdullah, director-general of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, slammed the implicit racism in such statements, which "view one blood as sacred and another as cheap". "I think thousands of Israeli soldiers have Palestinian blood on their hands. The fact that these criminals remain at large and in many cases keep up the killing of our children and civilians underscores the brutal ugliness of the Zionist mentality," said Abdullah, whose remarks coincided with an Israeli military court decision to exonerate an Israeli occupation soldier -- who a few months ago murdered a 13-year-old Rafah school girl, Iman Al-Hums -- on procedural grounds. The soldier, having killed the girl who was on her way to school, shot her in the head 17 more times to "confirm" her death. According to the Israeli press, the military judge ruled that the soldier was found innocent of all charges, including petty ones such as the misuse of firearms. Meanwhile, Hamas has praised PA leader Abbas for asserting his commitment to true democracy in Palestine. During his joint press conference with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah on Monday, Abbas disappointed both the Americans and the Israelis when he vowed to "let the Palestinian people decide". In response to a question from an American journalist on how he would view the possibility of further gains by Hamas in the upcoming Palestinian elections, Abbas said he would do nothing to forestall a victory by Hamas in the elections. "We have adopted the democratic system and we shall not intervene in favour or against any faction, the Palestinian people is free to choose its representatives, and my government shall not intervene to prevent any faction from wining or losing. The people will decide." "We are quite happy about his tone, and we hope that we will continue to work with the president for the collective good of the Palestinian people," said Youssef. The increasingly good chemistry between Abbas and Hamas is likely to strengthen a growingly moderate trend within Hamas. This, some observers contend, might eventually lead to the transformation of Hamas from a "spoiler movement", as many had come to view it, into a responsible democratic opposition serving, rather than undermining, the cause of freedom and independence in Palestine.
