Olmert Rules Out Ceasefire As Strikes On Hamas Continue

Olmert rules out ceasefire as strikes on Hamas continue

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Sto...231974,00.html

· Israel is fighting 'true war' with militants, says PM
· Peace talks threatened by plans for new settlements

Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
Monday December 24, 2007
The Guardian

The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, yesterday ruled out ceasefire negotiations with the Islamist movement Hamas and said his military was fighting a "true war" against armed groups in Gaza.

He warned of further Israeli military strikes in the days ahead which he said were intended to prevent Palestinian militants from firing makeshift rockets into Israel.

"Counter-terrorist operations will continue as they have for months," Olmert told his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "There is no other way to describe what is happening in the Gaza Strip except as a true war between the IDF [Israel Defence Force] and terrorist elements."

In the past week more than a dozen militants from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have been killed during Israeli strikes in Gaza.

In recent days there have been suggestions that Hamas, which won Palestinian elections early last year and then seized full control of Gaza in June, was seeking a ceasefire with Israel.

Last week Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, raised the idea in a rare telephone conversation with an Israeli television journalist. Egyptian mediators have reportedly also put forward a ceasefire proposal on behalf of Hamas.

But Olmert said there would be no talks with any group that failed to meet the principles of the Quartet of Middle East negotiators - the US, the UN, the EU and Russia - which last year called on Hamas to recognise Israel, halt violence and accept previous peace agreements. Hamas has refused to accept the three principles.

"Whoever accepts the Quartet principles will be - in principle - a partner for negotiations," Olmert said. "Whoever is unwilling to do so, to our regret, cannot be a partner for dialogue. This policy will not change."

It is increasingly clear that Israel's policy in Gaza is not simply to halt the rocket fire but also to depose the Hamas movement. Yesterday Haim Ramon, Israel's deputy prime minister, confirmed that his government wanted to topple Hamas.

"We are fighting Hamas and are seeking to weaken its control of Gaza, and bring about the end of its reign there. Hamas should hand over control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority," he said.

The Palestinian Authority is currently under the control of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of the Fatah movement, who is based in Ramallah, in the West Bank.

In a separate development, an Israeli cabinet minister confirmed that Israel had new plans to build apartments in two settlements in East Jerusalem and in the occupied West Bank. The announcement brought quick condemnation from Palestinian leaders and presents a new obstacle to attempts to revive peace talks between the two sides.

Under the first phase of the US road map, which once again is being used as the basis for talks, Israel has committed to halting all settlement activity and to removing some of its furthest settlements.

However, Israel's construction ministry has budgeted plans to build 740 new settlement apartments next year: 500 in Har Homa, in East Jerusalem, and another 240 in Ma'ale Adumim.

Rafi Eitan, Israel's minister for Jerusalem affairs, confirmed the construction plans but said he regarded the areas as "integral" parts of Jerusalem, adding that Israel did not regard the road map as applying to Jerusalem.