World

Israel, Hamas Plan To Go It Alone

March 9, 2006 / 8:02 AM EST / CBS/AP

Israel expects to draw its permanent borders by 2010 and build a controversial settlement outside Jerusalem as part of that effort, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview published Thursday.

Unilateral steps are likely because, with the Islamic militant group Hamas now in power, Olmert says Israel does not have a Palestinian peace partner, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.

Meanwhile, Hamas and the defeated Fatah Party held a new round of coalition talks Thursday, but it appears increasingly unlikely Fatah will join the new Palestinian government.

Earlier Thursday, a Hamas spokesman said the Islamic militant group will keep key Cabinet posts for itself, another sign that it is not actively courting Fatah, which lost parliament elections in January.

In other developments:

Two popular Israeli entertainers say that an army that kills children no longer represents them, and a human rights group demanded a war crimes inquiry, after an Israeli missile obliterated a vehicle in crowded Gaza City, killing the two Palestinian militants inside — but also three boys nearby.

With staples like wheat, sugar and cooking oil running low in Gaza, the crucial Karni border crossing in the Gaza Strip has reopened and trucks laden with food rolled across the border, reports Berger. Israel closed the terminal for more than two weeks, saying that Palestinian militants were planning an attack there. The army said the security threats remain, but the crossing was reopened for humanitarian reasons. Palestinian officials say the move was collective punishment for the election of the Islamic militant group Hamas six weeks ago.

It seems that Sharon Stone's "basic instinct" is trying to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "I would kiss just about anybody for peace in the Middle East," the American actress said in Tel Aviv Wednesday. She joins a list of Hollywood celebrities who have worked for Mideast peace, including Jane Fonda, Richard Gere and Jason Alexander, reports Berger (audio). She will raise money for Israeli and Palestinian children at her 48th birthday bash Friday.

Olmert, whose Kadima Party is the clear front-runner in the March 28 elections, told The Jerusalem Post that within four years he intended to "get to Israel's permanent borders, whereby we will completely separate from the majority of the Palestinian population and preserve a large and stable Jewish majority in Israel."

The acting prime minister said Israel would act unilaterally to set its borders if Hamas militants — poised to take control of the Palestinian Authority — don't renounce their violent campaign against Israel and accept the guidelines of an internationally backed peace plan within a "reasonable time."

Olmert said his broad guidelines for Israel's borders included its three major settlement blocs — Maaleh Adumim and Gush Etzion outside Jerusalem, and Ariel, deep inside the West Bank. Borders would also include Jerusalem and its immediate environs, and the Jordan River Valley, which Olmert characterized as a "security border."

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat urged Olmert to return to talks with the Palestinians. "Unilateralism and dictation will only add to the complexities and will not solve problems," Erekat said.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, a political moderate, has stated his interest in resuming long-stalled negotiations. But Olmert told The Jerusalem Post he had no intention of meeting Abbas after Israel's elections because he sees him as part of a Palestinian Authority dominated by Hamas.

The militant group, which won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January, expects to install a Cabinet within the next few weeks. A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Mushir al-Masri, said the group would take over the key ministries — finance, foreign affairs and the interior, which oversees some of the security forces.

Last year, Olmert confirmed Israel had frozen plans to build 3,650 housing units on land between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, Israel's largest West Bank settlement, because of pressure from Washington, which sees the construction as an impediment to peacemaking efforts.

But in the interview Olmert said the project would go ahead as part of Israel's border-setting.

Declaring plans to build the settlement could help Olmert rebuff attacks from his main political rival, Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of the elections. Netanyahu has repeatedly said the construction freeze calls into question the government's resolve to strengthen Jerusalem and major settlement blocs.

A senior government official said Israel had never given up plans to build in the so-called E1 area between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, even though construction could take years, in part because of permitting issues.

"It is inconceivable that Israel would relinquish control of the ... area and drive a wedge between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because construction hasn't begun.

Palestinians say the satellite settlement would cut off Jerusalem from the West Bank and kill their dreams to set up a capital there.

Construction "absolutely undermines any prospects for a future peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis," Erekat said.

Several new polls, meanwhile, showed continued erosion of Kadima's big lead in the run-up to elections, though it still had roughly double the support of its nearest rival, the dovish Labor Party.

Kadima has lost ground over corruption allegations, including one against Olmert that has since been discredited.