UNITED NATIONS The new U.N. Mideast envoy called Wednesday for the restoration of the Palestinian Authority's unity, conceding it won't be easy after the "appalling violence" in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah.
But Michael Williams said he believes President Mahmoud Abbas was sending a signal to the people of Gaza with the appointment of a new government of technocrats, including some prominent Gazans, "that they're not being forgotten at this moment." Bloody street battles in the Gaza Strip ended with Hamas seizing control of the tiny coastal territory last week from Abbas' Fatah security forces. The rout prompted Abbas to evict Hamas from the Hamas-Fatah coalition government a move Hamas decries as illegal and to set up a new Fatah-led Cabinet in the West Bank headed by Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad.
"Despite what has happened, Gaza and the West Bank remain one Palestinian territory, legally administered by one Palestinian Authority headed of president Abbas," Williams said. In his first briefing to the U.N.
Security Council since becoming the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Williams said all Mideast players must focus on two major political challenges "first, how to restore the unity of the Palestinian Authority and people, and prevent the de facto divide between Gaza and the West Bank.
" The second challenge, he said, is "how to advance the political process between Israel and the Palestinians and move towards a comprehensive settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict." The de facto split of the Palestinian territories dealt a major blow to months of effort by Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to unify the Palestinians and allow a resumption of the peace process with Israel. Williams told the council: "It is the responsibility of all the parties, the regional states and the international community, including the Quartet, to provide the kind of leadership required to steer through this difficult period towards a more hopeful future.
" The United Nations is part of the international Quartet trying to promote Middle East peace along with the United States, the European Union and Russia. A Quartet meeting scheduled next week in Cairo with an Arab League delegation, Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was postponed to allow time to evaluate changes in the region following Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip. The United States, Russia and the EU have rallied behind the new government led by Fayyad.
Williams said Ban had telephoned Abbas and Fayyad "to convey his full support to the new government." "It is now vital," Williams said, "that political and financial support from Israel and the international community is immediately delivered to president Abbas and the Palestinian government." Olmert said in the coming week he will introduce a proposal to his government to unlock millions in frozen tax revenue that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians.
He said restoring Palestinian unity is going to be tough. "The violence of the last week shows very, very deep political and ideological divisions between Fatah and Hamas," Williams told reporters afterwards. " But I think president Abbas has sent some clear signals in that regard with the appointment of this government, led by Salam Fayyad," he said.
"It's not going to be easy, however, to overcome the brutality of the past week and also the clear insurrectionary attempt by Hamas to wrest control of Gaza," Williams said. UNITED NATIONS The new U.N.
News RSS