Pullout not enough for peace

Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas gestures as he speaks during a rally in Gaza City yesterday. Abbas urged Israel to stop all its settlement activity in the West Bank if it was serious about peace as the evacuation of settlers from Gaza was put on hold Saturday for the Jewish sabbath. PHOTO: AFP

Having presided over the first ever withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made clear earlier this week that he would "continue and develop" Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Israel's historic pullout from Gaza, which is nearing the closing stages well ahead of schedule, has been seen as an opportunity to revitalise the moribund peace process.

But both Abbas and the radical Islamist movement Hamas made clear that the ending of the 38-year Israeli presence in Gaza was not about to usher in a new era of peace for a region torn by five years of conflict.

Hailing the withdrawal from Gaza as a "first step", Abbas confirmed that his Palestinian Authority would take control over all vacated land and planned to build 3,000 new homes on one of the settlements, Morag.

But he added it was vital that Israel pulls out of all areas reoccupied since the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000 in the West Bank.

"After that it must stop the settlements and its judaising of Jerusalem," he said in a speech in Gaza City.

"Those who continue with these measures show they do not want peace."

While Abbas, a frequent critic of the armed uprising, is seen as the moderate voice among Palestinians, he is facing a severe test of his popularity from the hardliners of Hamas who are portraying the Israeli departure from Gaza as a "victory for the resistance."

The prospect of a showdown between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah movement was confirmed when Abbas announced that only the second ever legislative elections would take place on January 25.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri confirmed after Abbas's announcement that the movement, which boycotted the last elections a decade ago, would participate this time "with the aim of serving our people and stopping the monopoly of the decision-making and putting an end to the corruption."

Just as the Palestinian leader was delivering his speech in the parliament building in Gaza City, militants of the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, were delivering their own verdict on the implications of the pullout.

In a statement handed to reporters, they reiterated that they would not disarm after the pullout from Gaza or end their campaign against Israel "until the defeat of the occupation from all our land."

Sharon has argued that the pullout from Gaza will reduce friction with the 1.3 million Palestinians living in the narrow coastal strip and enable Israel to hold on to large settlement blocs in the West Bank.

The argument has left his former allies on the Israeli right and within the settler movement cold, with many fearing the current withdrawals are merely the precursor to larger pullbacks in the West Bank.