Middle East

Documents & Texts from America.gov

19 June 2008
Gaza Truce Is Helpful, United States Says

By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington -- One of the objectives of the 2007 Annapolis Conference on the Middle East was to enhance security for Israelis and Palestinians, so a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip can be helpful in moving peace negotiations forward, says State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey.

"Anything that helps maintain security for Israeli citizens, that helps end the kind of violence that has been fairly constant along the border with Gaza, is something that's positive," Casey said at a June 18 news briefing. "We certainly support the efforts that Egypt has made to help ensure that this truce or calm ... takes place."

Israeli and Hamas negotiators reached an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire agreement June 18 that took effect June 19. The agreement would last for six months.

"We believe that establishing calm in Gaza and elsewhere is a good thing, and we're supportive of Egyptian efforts and other efforts to achieve that," Casey said.

The Annapolis Conference was launched by President Bush to begin intensive negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians and resolve considerable core issues that will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. Both sides agreed at the outset of talks to try to reach an agreement by the end of the year.

Core issues include defining the final borders of the Palestinian state, the future of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, Palestinian refugees, water rights and future relations between the two states.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just returned from a visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah for talks with the chief Palestinian and Israeli negotiators.

Hamas, which the United States, the European Union and Israel have identified as a terrorist organization, gained control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority a year ago.

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