By Xinhua
Gaza : Leadership of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement in Gaza Wednesday called on visiting U.S. President George W. Bush to help stop Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and lift siege on the Gaza Strip.
Bush arrived in Israel on Wednesday noon, starting an eight-day visit to the region. He is scheduled to meet Abbas on Thursday in the West Bank city of Ramallah in efforts to push the stalled peace process forward.
The visit also comes amid continued Palestinian internal divisions between Fatah and rival Hamas movement, which seized control of the Gaza Strip by force last June. Bush is to shun the Gaza Strip during his visit in the region.
A top priority for Bush during the tour is to push forward the Palestinian-Israeli peace process after last November’s Annapolis conference to re-launch the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Peace talks between the two sides after the meeting have so far made little progress because of Israeli settlement activities and military actions in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket attacks from there.
“We demand President Bush to announce his clear and neutral stances towards the Israeli acts against the Palestinian people,” said Zakareia al-Agha, a member of Fatah’s central committee, at a news conference in Gaza.
“The success of Bush’s visit is subject to the neutrality, forcing Israel to stop all forms of settlement activities, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and opening the crossings before the Palestinians,” al-Agha added.
Urging the Palestinian Authority (PA) to freeze peace talks if settlement buildings continue, al-Agha also warned the Palestinian negotiators not to make concessions during Bush’s visit.