Doaa El-Bey follows diplomatic efforts to keep Palestinian-Israeli direct negotiations on track Diplomatic efforts that included President Hosni Mubarak's tour to two European states, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's speech before the UN General Assembly and a trip to Paris, and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit's speech before the UN General Assembly, failed to convince Israel to extend its 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank. The building of more illegal housing units began on Monday despite US, European, Arab and Palestinian opposition to the move and the threats it poses to direct Palestinian-Israeli talks. Abbas said at the end of his visit to France that he did not yet take a decision on whether to continue the peace talks after Israel's decision, and that he will consult the Arab League next week during its Arab Follow-up Committee in Cairo on 4 October. Mohamed Bassiouni, a former Egyptian ambassador to Israel and head of the Shura Council Committee for External and Arab Affairs and National Security, said that Israel's decision poses a serious danger to the negotiations, but ruled out that it could lead to deadlock. "The Palestinians are seeking their rights and should persevere until they secure them," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. He also praised Abbas for referring the problem to the Arab League. During Abbas's visit to Paris, Sarkozy showed disappointment in Israel's decision. He said he deplored the decision to resume settlement construction just as talks were finally under way. He was not the only European leader who was not worried about the resumption of settlement construction. At the end of a press conference with Mubarak last week, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would try to intervene with other European leaders to convince Tel Aviv to extend the freeze on construction. During a two-day tour that included Germany as well as Italy, Mubarak urged all involved parties to exert efforts to guarantee the continuation and eventual success of negotiations. He pointed to the importance of the EU, the Quartet and the international community playing a more active role in supporting Palestinian-Israeli talks. After her meeting with Mubarak, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a joint statement that both the Israelis and Palestinians must approach the golden opportunity of negotiations with courage and creativity. The two leaders added that they were following the development of talks with great interest as the end of the freeze on settlement building neared. Mubarak's tour was part of his ongoing efforts to secure maximum support for the negotiations. It aimed to boost the peace process and remove any obstacles that could impede it. Abbas and other Palestinian officials had repeatedly warned that they could not negotiate with Israel unless the freeze was extended. In his speech before the UN General Assembly, Abbas confirmed that he would exert every effort to reach a peace agreement with Israel. Nevertheless, he stated that Israel in turn should cease all settlement building activities. "Our demands for the cessation of settlement activities, the lifting of the siege and an end to other illegal Israeli practices... will lead to the creation of the necessary environment for the success of the negotiations and will give credibility to the final agreement reached," he said. During the same meeting Abul-Gheit said there was no doubt that freezing Israeli settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories has become a major factor in determining the intentions of the Israeli side and its level of commitment to making the negotiations a success. He also warned Tel Aviv that if it failed in its commitment to continue freezing its settlement activities then it would threaten the negotiation process to collapse for which Israel must shoulder the full responsibility before the region and world public opinion. The United States confirmed that its position remained unchanged and renewed its call that Israel keeps a freeze on the construction of new settlements. State Department Spokesman P J Crowley said that Washington remains in close touch with both parties and will be meeting with them in the coming days to discuss the matter further. He pointed that his country remained focussed on the goal of advancing negotiations towards a two-state solution. The settlement problem poses a real challenge to the talks. There are more than 120 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, in which some 500,000 settlers live at present. These areas are supposed to be part of the future Palestinians state. Palestinians expect that if Israel wants to keep some of these settlements, they will have to exchange it for other land. Building more settlements further complicates the problem, creating a status quo that will be difficult, if not impossible, to change. In another development, officials from the feuding Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas decided to meet to resolve their differences. The meeting is likely to be held in the Syrian capital Damascus next month to try to resolve their differences over the Egyptian reconciliation paper. Fatah has already signed the paper but Hamas has refused without changes being made.
