In These New Times

Special report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts 

    By Lin Liyu, Yao Siyan

  BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhuanet) — The escalating Palestine-Israel conflicts are triggered by Israel and the international community should put more pressure on Israel to settle the longtime conflicts, said a Palestinian envoy Monday in Beijing, while an Israeli diplomat accused the Hamas of causing the on-going Gaza conflicts.

Ahmad K. Mussa (L), Minister Counsellor of the Palestinian Embassy to China, talks with the Xinhuanet editor Li Baodong during an interview in Beijing on Monday afternoon, Jan. 5, 2009.(Xinhuanet Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    In an exclusive interview with the Xinhuanet, the online news service of the Xinhua News Agency, Ahmad K. Mussa, Minister Counsellor of the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing said the fact that Israel failed to lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip under a deal reached by the two sides last June has triggered the conflicts.

    “Under the agreement, Israel should have changed its previous policy. It not only failed to do so, but also intensify the blockage, preventing Gazans from access to food, fuel and medicines.” Mussa said.

    Meanwhile, Amos Nadai, Ambassador of Israel to China, in a separate interview, said that the Hamas should be responsible for the conflicts, and that the current operation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) only aimed to destroy military targets of Hamas.

Amos Nadai (L), Ambassador of Israel to China, talks with the Xinhuanet editor Li Baodong during an interview in Beijing on Monday afternoon, Jan. 5, 2009.(Xinhuanet Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    “The aim of the operation of the IDF is to end military activities of Hamas but not to target against the Palestinian people, nor the population of Gaza,” said Nadai.

    Israel began airstrikes against Hamas-controlled Gaza on Dec. 27 and carried out a ground operation on Jan. 3, 2009, leaving 514 people killed and thousands wounded.

    The Palestinian envoy also blamed Israel for being “the only country in the world not to comply with UN resolutions” and urged that pressure should be imposed on Israel to realize Middle East process at an earlier date.

    Responding to the remarks made by the U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, in which Obama encouraged Israel and Palestine to continue peace talks, Ahmad K. Mussa said that the peace talks “could last for 50 years” without any practical results if no super power put pressure on Israel.

    Whereas the Israeli ambassador said that during the past eight years, southern Israelis have been living under the shadow of rocket attacks from the Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, Nadai said that the Israeli government is determined to destroy Hamas terror infrastructure in order to bring a safe environment to both southern Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza.

    Nadai agreed that the current “Israeli operation has harmed some civilians in Gaza,” but adding “the international community should press more on the Hamas to end the conflict, not only on Israel.”

    When asked about the best solution for the conflict, the Israeli envoy said,” Over the past 10 years, we have been discussing with the Palestinians about how to solve this problem. Our idea is very clear that there are two countries, one is the State of Israel, and the other is a Palestinian state, and the State of Israel and the Palestinian state can co-exist, which is recognized by both sides. We need to do more on the peace process.”

    “For us, peace is our strategic option, because it serves our interests. Then we can live peacefully with our neighbors, we hope to achieve this goal as soon as possible,” Nadai added.

Smokes rise following an Israeli airstrike on an area known to have smuggling tunnels in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, Jan. 3, 2009.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Answering the same question, Mussa praised the Arab Peace Initiative, adopted by 14th Arab summit held in Beirut in March 2002, as an ideal way towards peace among many other recommendations on the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel so far has not declared whether it will accept this initiative.

    The Arab Peace Initiative is a proposed solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular. Its main contents include full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem and the acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

    After the above-mentioned conditions have been met, the Arab countries will enter into a peace agreement with Israel, establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace and provide security for all the states of the region, according to the peace initiative.