President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, February 8, declared a formal end to over four years of violence in which more than an estimated 4,000 people died.
With the flags of their countries whipping in the wind, both leaders announced after face-to-face talks at Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that they had agreed to resume peace negotiations.
Sharon, who had refused to talk to late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said in a statement monitored by BosNewsLife that he had no "intention of missing this opportunity" with a new Palestinian leadership in place.
"We must not let the new spirit, which grants our peoples hope, pass us by and leave us empty-handed. That is why we have acted quickly and with determination, with an understanding of the needs of the Palestinian side," he said.
PALESTINIAN STATE
Sharon said Israel will stop all military activities everywhere against Palestinians, and suggested he hopes President Abbas will lead his people to statehood
"Today, in my meeting with [Palestinian leader] Abbas, we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere and parallel, Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians anywhere," he added. Sharon said Israel believes "that today we are starting a new period of tranquility and hope."
As part of the confidence building measures, Sharon stressed that his country had also agreed to release "hundreds of Palestinian prisoners," and to start a process of transferring security responsibilities to Palestinian areas.
"CALM WILL PREVAIL"
He spoke after Abbas said that "the calm which will prevail in our lands starting from today is the beginning of a new era." Sharon seemed to agree. "For the first time in a long time there is hope in our region for a better future for us and our grandchildren," he said.
Although neither side signed a truce declaration at the Egyptian summit, the Palestinian leader described what he called "a new opportunity for restoring the Middle East peace process," and declared an end to the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
The summit in the Egyptian resort Sharm el-Sheikh was the highest level meeting between the two sides since the Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, erupted in September of 2000, after the collapse of the peace process. More than 3,300 Palestinians and nearly 1,000 Israelis are estimated to have been killed in the violence.
WHITE HOUSE PLEASED
The latest developments came as a boost for the White House, which has been under pressure to help Palestinians and Israelis restart talks on the internationally backed Roadmap to Peace. Ahead of the summit, American President George W. Bush, who has invited both leaders to Washington, said he is impressed by steps taken by both sides.
However his Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, warned that success of the Egypt summit will also depend on other Arab states, including Syria, which has been accused of supporting terrorism and attacks against Israel.
"It is time for Syria to demonstrate that it does not want to be isolated, that it does not want to have a bad relationship with the United States," she said in Rome, Italy, after talks with Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini.
"We’ve already used the Syrian accountability act to levy certain sanctions against Syria. I would hope that Syria could react in a more positive way so that we do not have to go further in that regard," said Rise who also met Palestinian and Israeli leaders over the weekend.
(With: BosNewsLife News Center, Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent, reports from Egypt, Israel, Washington and Rome).
