By Xinhua
Ramallah : The U.S. is going to ask Egypt to mediate between Hamas and Israel to reach a ceasefire in the Palestinian territories upon a request by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), according to chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei on Thursday.
When U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Ramallah on Tuesday, she agreed with the PNA “on a mechanism to calm down the situation in Gaza Strip through Egyptian mediation,” Qurei told daily al-Watan of Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Rice’s assistant for Near East affairs, David Welch, will visit Cairo on Thursday to discuss with the Egyptian side the extent of Hamas commitment to stop the rocket attacks into southern Israel.
“The cease of rockets is going to be part of a comprehensive truce deal covers the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” said Nemer Hammad, Abbas’ political advisor.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June after routing pro-Abbas security forces. Israel stepped up military operations in the Hamas-ruled territory, sparking rocket attacks in retaliation.
If a ceasefire deal is reached and crossing points into Gaza are reopened, the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will resume, according to Hammad.
The PNA halted the negotiations last week in response to a deadly Israeli army incursion and airstrikes against Gaza where more than 125 Palestinians were killed in less than a week.