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Gaza's PRC Says International Forces Will be Treated as Invading Enemies – Abbas Demanding Ceasefire From UN |
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Tuesday, 6 January 2009Gaza – Ma’an – The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in the Gaza Strip will refuse entry of any international force into the area, and would consider the act an attempt to prevent Palestinians from their legitimate right to resist.
The group’s Tuesday announcement was a response to attempts by the Palestinian Authority to push through a UN resolution that would ensure an immediate ceasefire and install observers and international troops at the borders of Gaza and Israel to ensure both sides stick to the agreement.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in New York Tuesday morning to press the case for a ceasefire resolution.
The PRC made it clear in a statement that any international troops would be treated as enemies invading the area. They announced that they refuse to separate the Gaza Strip from Palestine, and asserted that international forces would only strengthen Israeli control over Palestinian areas.
In New York, Abbas will continue meetings with members of the Arab League and UN Security Council in the hopes of preparing a draft resolution for discussion by Wednesday afternoon.
The United States, backed by Israel, scuttled an attempt on Saturday to pass a ceasefire resolution proposed by Libya, the Security Council’s only Arab member.
The resolution hoped for by Palestinian negotiators, explained Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki at a UN press conference Monday, will begin with a total ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
According to the planned draft, the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip would be lifted and international observers installed at all border crossings, including the Rafah crossing as per the November 2005 agreement with Egypt. Further, an international force would patrol the border area and ensure both Israeli and Palestinian groups maintained the terms of agreement of the ceasefire.
Asked how the negotiating team at the UNSC hoped to overcome the threatened US veto, which cut-short an earlier proposal, Al-Maliki only said the team was optimistic that the US would be receptive to the consensus achieved by the Arab League and other Security Council members.
The in-process draft resolution also contains requirements for Hamas and Fatah to meet with all Palestinian factions and work on the issue of the internal divisions in the Palestinian state.
Some concern was expressed over the fact that representatives for the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority were working for the ceasefire for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Al-Maliki described the PA initiative as achieving through diplomacy what Hamas was trying to achieve with projectile fire: to end the siege and open the crossings and ensure the rights of Gazans.
Al-Maliki expressed disappointment over the failure of President-elect Barack Obama to make a statement against the attacks on Gaza, given the fact that he condemned the Mumbai attacks the month before.
Abbas’ program for the next few two days will be back-to-back meetings with members of the Arab league and with each member of the Security Council to attempt and gain a preliminary consensus on the draft resolution.
Al-Maliki explained that the details of the international force and the observer mission would be discussed during the Security Council meeting Wednesday.
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Tuesday, 6 January 2009
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