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Clinton vows to work towards Palestinian state
2009-03-04
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, blasted its plans for razing houses in east Jerusalem and vowed to work towards a Palestinian state as she met with president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday. "The United States aims to foster conditions in which a Palestinian state can be fully realised," she said after talks with Abbas in the occupied West Bank on the second day of a maiden trip to the region. "Time is of the essence," she said. US President Barack Obama has vowed vigorously to pursue Israeli-Palestinian peace talks which were relaunched in November 2007 but were frozen during Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip in December and January. Clinton urged Israel to allow more aid into the war-shattered Gaza Strip. "We have obviously expressed concerns about the border crossings. We want humanitarian aid to get into Gaza in sufficient amounts to alleviate the suffering of the people in Gaza," she said. Clinton and Abbas both criticised the Israeli-run Jerusalem municipality's decision to destroy dozens of homes built without permits in mostly Arab east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians have demanded as their future capital. "Clearly this kind of activity is unhelpful and not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the roadmap," Clinton said, referring to a blueprint for peace talks adopted by the international community in 2003. "It is an issue that we intend to raise with the government in Israel and the government at the municipal level in Jerusalem because it is clearly a matter of deep concern," she added. Abbas said: "The message to us is very clear -- whoever takes these sorts of measures does not want peace." "The incoming Israeli government ... (must) respect the roadmap and two-state solution and should stop all settlement activity and reopen the border crossings" into Gaza, he added. Clinton had earlier held talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and visited a school in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah a day after meeting Israeli leaders in Jerusalem. On her first visit to the region since her appointment by Obama, Clinton announced she was sending two envoys to Syria at the end of the week. For years, the United States has had strained relations with Syria, a longtime foe of the Jewish state. Clinton also said the special US envoy for the Middle East peace talks, veteran diplomat George Mitchell, would return to the region after the formation of a new Israeli government, which is expected to be led by the hawkish Likud party. In her meetings with Israeli leaders, Clinton underscored the US commitment to a two-state solution, saying the first step is to have durable ceasefire in Gaza, which has been ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement since June 2007. Rocket attacks by Gaza militants and raids by Israeli forces have continued since the January 18 end of a 22-military offensive that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians in the impoverished territory. Hamas criticised Clinton's visit. "Clinton's statements show there is no change in US foreign policy, particularly regarding the Palestinian question," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Baarhum. Early on Wednesday, Israeli warplanes launched two new raids on smuggling tunnels linking Gaza to Egypt without causing casualties. Clinton's visit comes at a time when relations between the US and Israel are in a flux. While Obama has vowed to pursue Middle East peace, presumptive Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely preside over a narrow right-wing coalition that is opposed to a Palestinian state. As premier in 1996, the Likud leader put the brakes on the Oslo peace process. Following her meeting with Abbas, Clinton left for Brussels where she will attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, NATO's political and decision-making body.
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