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Israeli, Palestinian leaders declare truce
CTV.ca News Staff
Israeli and Palestinian leaders declared a formal end to the bloodshed that has killed thousands after peace talks fell apart more than four years ago.
After a landmark summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to end the violence -- declaring the start of a "new era of peace and hope."
"We have agreed ... to cease all acts of violence against the Israelis and the Palestinians wherever they are," Abbas said in a statement following the meeting.
Sharon made a similar pledge: "Today, in my meeting with chairman Abbas, we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and, at the same time, Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere.''
"For the first time in a long time there is hope in our region for a better future for us and our grandchildren."
The Associated Press reported the two leaders agreed on a timetable for Israeli troops to complete a handover of five West Bank towns to Palestinian control within three weeks.
Ceasefire called one of 'substance'
CTV's Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer said there's still a degree of trepidation in the region, "but this ceasefire is being hailed as one with substance."
The difference this time, she added, was the absence of the late Yasser Arafat, under whose leadership any peace deal fell apart.
"Abbas is seen by the Israeli leadership as a man with whom they can negotiate -- a pragmatist and a mediator and somebody who is willing to follow through on some of the measures that have been pledged," Mackey Frayer told CTV Newsnet.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the summit's host and mediator, said both sides showed a serious desire to "work together truly and sincerely."
"The challenges today are large and deep, but the mission is not impossible,'' he said." If the road is long, we today took the first step."
The truce signals a climate of conciliation that has replaced years of futility and bloodshed under former Palestinian president Yasser Arafat.
After more than four years of fighting since the start of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, Abbas took office last month saying violence could not serve his people's cause.
In return for the ceasefire, Israel is promising a gradual pullback from five West Bank cities and the release of nearly a thousand Palestinian prisoners.
A senior Israeli official in Jerusalem said Sharon has invited Abbas to his ranch in southern Israel, and that the Palestinian leader has accepted.
Prisoner release was one of the most emotionally charged topics on the summit's agenda.
Securing a larger release would boost Abbas in his efforts to persuade militant Palestinians to end the Intifada.
Israel has refused to release prisoners involved in deadly attacks, but then hinted at some flexibility when it agreed to set up a joint committee to review the possible release of inmates with "blood on their hands."
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Pierre Pettigrew, said Tuesday he has high hopes for peace in the Middle East.
In a telephone interview with Broadcast News from Jerusalem, the minister said he welcomed the pledges of peace, saying Palestinians are finally aware that the Intifada brought both sides in the Mideast conflict "nothing but pain."
Pettigrew is planning to meet separately with Sharon and Abbas on Thursday.
Hamas reaction
A spokesman for Palestinian militant group Hamas told Associated Press that his organization is not bound by Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire declarations.
He said Hamas will wait for Israel's next move, and would evaluate the summit before committing to ending its campaign of violence.
Hamas is responsible for numerous suicide bombings in Israel and refuses to recognize the state of Israel.
"We agreed before with Mahmoud Abbas that if he succeeds to achieve our national goals, he should come back to the Palestinian factions to discuss the issue," said Hamas spokesman Mahmoud Zahar. "And after that we will decide our stand.''
Abbas has held talks with various militant groups in an attempt to convince them to agree to a truce with Israel.
Optimism 'justified': U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Italian state television Tuesday that "Optimism is certainly justified at the moment as far as the Middle East is concerned."
Rice completed a tour of the region on Monday, when she announced that the U.S. will provide more than $40 million US in aid to the Palestinian government over the next three months.
She also announced the appointment of a new security coordinator to help Palestinian forces and to "provide a focal point" for training and equipping Palestinian forces monitoring the peace.
Hours before the summit, Palestinians opened fire on an Israeli military vehicle moving along the security fence surrounding the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements in southern Gaza, according to the Israeli military. No injuries or damage were reported.
Two Hamas members were also arrested near the West Bank town of Jenin, the army said. And Israel briefly sealed off the West Bank town of Nablus, preventing Palestinians from leaving.
With files from CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer and The Associated Press
Is it actualy over?
CTV.ca News Staff
Israeli and Palestinian leaders declared a formal end to the bloodshed that has killed thousands after peace talks fell apart more than four years ago.
After a landmark summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to end the violence -- declaring the start of a "new era of peace and hope."
"We have agreed ... to cease all acts of violence against the Israelis and the Palestinians wherever they are," Abbas said in a statement following the meeting.
Sharon made a similar pledge: "Today, in my meeting with chairman Abbas, we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and, at the same time, Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere.''
"For the first time in a long time there is hope in our region for a better future for us and our grandchildren."
The Associated Press reported the two leaders agreed on a timetable for Israeli troops to complete a handover of five West Bank towns to Palestinian control within three weeks.
Ceasefire called one of 'substance'
CTV's Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer said there's still a degree of trepidation in the region, "but this ceasefire is being hailed as one with substance."
The difference this time, she added, was the absence of the late Yasser Arafat, under whose leadership any peace deal fell apart.
"Abbas is seen by the Israeli leadership as a man with whom they can negotiate -- a pragmatist and a mediator and somebody who is willing to follow through on some of the measures that have been pledged," Mackey Frayer told CTV Newsnet.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the summit's host and mediator, said both sides showed a serious desire to "work together truly and sincerely."
"The challenges today are large and deep, but the mission is not impossible,'' he said." If the road is long, we today took the first step."
The truce signals a climate of conciliation that has replaced years of futility and bloodshed under former Palestinian president Yasser Arafat.
After more than four years of fighting since the start of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, Abbas took office last month saying violence could not serve his people's cause.
In return for the ceasefire, Israel is promising a gradual pullback from five West Bank cities and the release of nearly a thousand Palestinian prisoners.
A senior Israeli official in Jerusalem said Sharon has invited Abbas to his ranch in southern Israel, and that the Palestinian leader has accepted.
Prisoner release was one of the most emotionally charged topics on the summit's agenda.
Securing a larger release would boost Abbas in his efforts to persuade militant Palestinians to end the Intifada.
Israel has refused to release prisoners involved in deadly attacks, but then hinted at some flexibility when it agreed to set up a joint committee to review the possible release of inmates with "blood on their hands."
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Pierre Pettigrew, said Tuesday he has high hopes for peace in the Middle East.
In a telephone interview with Broadcast News from Jerusalem, the minister said he welcomed the pledges of peace, saying Palestinians are finally aware that the Intifada brought both sides in the Mideast conflict "nothing but pain."
Pettigrew is planning to meet separately with Sharon and Abbas on Thursday.
Hamas reaction
A spokesman for Palestinian militant group Hamas told Associated Press that his organization is not bound by Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire declarations.
He said Hamas will wait for Israel's next move, and would evaluate the summit before committing to ending its campaign of violence.
Hamas is responsible for numerous suicide bombings in Israel and refuses to recognize the state of Israel.
"We agreed before with Mahmoud Abbas that if he succeeds to achieve our national goals, he should come back to the Palestinian factions to discuss the issue," said Hamas spokesman Mahmoud Zahar. "And after that we will decide our stand.''
Abbas has held talks with various militant groups in an attempt to convince them to agree to a truce with Israel.
Optimism 'justified': U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Italian state television Tuesday that "Optimism is certainly justified at the moment as far as the Middle East is concerned."
Rice completed a tour of the region on Monday, when she announced that the U.S. will provide more than $40 million US in aid to the Palestinian government over the next three months.
She also announced the appointment of a new security coordinator to help Palestinian forces and to "provide a focal point" for training and equipping Palestinian forces monitoring the peace.
Hours before the summit, Palestinians opened fire on an Israeli military vehicle moving along the security fence surrounding the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements in southern Gaza, according to the Israeli military. No injuries or damage were reported.
Two Hamas members were also arrested near the West Bank town of Jenin, the army said. And Israel briefly sealed off the West Bank town of Nablus, preventing Palestinians from leaving.
With files from CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer and The Associated Press
Is it actualy over?
