CAIRO: Egypt and Jordan issued a joint statement from Amman urging Palestinian factions to put aside their differences to achieve peace and statehood. After a closed door meeting, President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan released their statement asking warring factions Fatah and Hamas to adopt a unified stance, especially in light of an upcoming US-sponsored peace conference. The conference was an important opportunity for the Palestinians if they wanted to make headway in the peace process, the statement said. Mohamed Bassiouny, former ambassador to Israel and chairman of the Committee on Arab and Foreign Affairs and National Security at the Shoura Council, told Daily News Egypt that a united Palestinian stance was highly desirable before the conference to strengthen their bargaining hand. "Differences should be resolved before the conference, he said. "There are two points to consider about the Palestinians. First is to unite the factions and cease the killing and end the existence of two separate governments if we want to achieve the aim of a Palestinian state. "The second point, Bassiouny added, "is to ensure the independence of the Palestinian decision-making process to seek a united front before heading to the conference. The former ambassador did admit that time may not permit resolving the differences between the Palestinians, with the conference earmarked for November. "If unity is not reached by the time of the conference, Bassiouny said, "then the option to take is to head to the conference anyway to reach an agreement. However, at the time of implementation [of the terms of said agreement], there must be unity amongst the Palestinians. "Only then can we satisfy both points. However, it would be much better if their differences were resolved before the conference, he added. Mubarak and Abdullah's statement came as the death toll in Gaza reached eleven people, killed by Israeli missile strikes as IDF forces entered the Northern town of Beit Hanoun before withdrawing later on Wednesday. Mohammed Madhoun, an aide to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said "the honorable Palestinian blood shed by this Nazi army will only make us more steadfast. Israeli government spokesman David Baker said the strikes were part of a "continuous policy of preventing terrorist activity against our civilians, including our taking pre-emptive measures as needed to thwart these attacks. Last week, the Israeli government had declared Gaza an "enemy entity laying the groundwork for plans to cut off power to the strip's 1.4 million residents. Mubarak visited Amman to discuss the latest peace developments with Abdullah. Both Egypt and Jordan are heavily involved in the process as the only two Arab countries to have formal relations with Israel. It is Egypt and Jordan who submitted a proposed Arab peace initiative to Israel, through their respective foreign ministers, where Arab countries offered to formally recognize Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state.
