Trying To Seal, Sell Mideast Truce

Despite the hopeful ambiance, the ghost of a 2003 truce that lasted less than two months, and the knowledge that a single serious attack could torpedo this one, hung heavy in the air.

If any issue can blow up the truce it is the 8,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, reports Berger. Militant groups have warned that they'll resume attacks if Israel does not release all the prisoners. Israel says terrorists with blood on their hands will not go free.

The truce is the first step of the road map peace plan, but it's the next step that's emerging as a major obstacle. The road map demands that the Palestinian Authority dismantle terrorist groups. But Abbas fears that would lead to civil war. Israel says there will be no talks on a Palestinian state until groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad are disarmed.

There have been so many high profile summits that Israelis are skeptical, reports Berger. The summits have brought brief periods of calm, followed by new waves of terror. With Hamas and Islamic Jihad still in business, many Israelis believe optimism is premature.

"We've gone from euphoria to extreme disappointment" in the past, said Shimrit Golan, 26, an Israeli law student who lives in Jerusalem. "We'll wait and see what happens."

"In the end, we have to pray for peace, because violence will lead us to self-destruction," said Yussef Said, 60, a shopkeeper in Gaza City.

In the first reported violation, Palestinians opened fire on a car near a West Bank Jewish settlement after nightfall Tuesday and fired and threw firebombs at an army force that came to investigate, the Israeli military said. No one was hurt. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, affiliated with Abbas' Fatah movement, claimed responsibility.

Abbas was expected to spend several days in Gaza trying to sell the results of the summit to Palestinian militant groups. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad said nothing of significance to the Palestinian people had been accomplished.

In order for a truce to succeed, Israel must release Palestinian prisoners and provide "a clear commitment to halt all kinds of aggression against the Palestinian people," Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, said. "These two conditions were not achieved at the summit."

The summit "did not achieve anything. From our people's interests, the Israeli position did not change," Sami Abu Zuhari, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, said, but "we are going to listen to Mr. Abbas when he returns."

"Calm cannot come from one side, and cannot come for free. We will wait for the return of Mr. Abbas, and then we will see," said Nafez Azzam, the top Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip.

"What we agreed upon today is simply the beginning of the process of bridging the gap," Abbas said Tuesday after meeting Sharon.

The cease-fire agreement was accompanied by several concrete goodwill gestures.

Five hundred Palestinian prisoners are to freed next week by Israel, to be followed by 400 more at a later stage. Sharon's office said a ministerial committee to discuss prisoners would meet Sunday.

Also, Israeli troops will complete their handover of five West Bank towns to Palestinian control within three weeks, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said. Israeli and Palestinian security commanders are to meet Wednesday to prepare the handover of Jericho, the first West Bank town on the list of five.

In another signal the talks went well, Egypt and Jordan announced they would return their ambassadors to Israel after a four-year absence — possibly within days.