Rice in Israel, Palestinian territories; focus on end of Gaza occupation
The US Secretary Of State Condaleezzs Rice has concluded its visit to the Palestinian territories and Israel. In conclusion of her visit with the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday in Jerusalem, Rice said that Israel and the Palestinians agreed to destroy the houses of the settlers in Gaza which will be evacuated, according to the withdrawal plan due to be implemented in the mid of August.
Rice said that the two sides considered that the houses tolled 1200 will not solve the problem of housing needs for more than one million Palestinians.
She described the Israeli withdrawal plan from Gaza as a historical phase that would lead to the revival of the peace process in the Middle East.
Rice said detailed three specific steps toward the Israeli disengagement from the West Bank : " One, Israel and the Palestinian Authority recognize that Israeli withdrawal must proceed peacefully and without violence directed toward withdrawing settlers or IDF forces; [t]wo ... Israel and the Palestinian Authority agree that the appropriate result is the complete removal of all settler homes in Gaza; [t]hree ... Israel and the Palestinian Authority agree that Palestinian goods and people should flow in and out of Gaza at a level that will allow for economic revival to begin immediately."
Rice, commenting on her separate meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said she "found the leaders on both sides to be focused, their governments to be focused on what must be done ... [t]hey understand fully that this effort needs to be cooperative and coordinated so that it can succeed in building trust and confidence between the parties that can then give us a foundation for accelerated progress on the roadmap once the disengagement is done."
However, Sharon stressed that no progress can be attained in the implementation of the Roadmap unless the Palestinian authority disarm the Palestinian groups and dismantle them, stressing that the American policy towards Israel has not changed.
Rice's meeting with Sharon comes two days prior to a summit set between the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in their first meeting since February 8th talks in Egypt during which the two men reached a truce.