Al-Manar
"04/03/2008 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in occupied Palestine on her last trip aimed at pushing forward Israeli-Palestinian talks at a time the blood of Palestinian children massacred in Gaza has not dried out yet.
Rice arrived from Egypt where she held talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo. She stressed her confidence in the chances of success for what she called "Israeli-Palestinian peace process" launched in November at Annapolis. She did not forget to look at the victim and the killer with the same eye.
Rice refrained from criticizing Israel over its "Operation Hot Winter" in the Gaza Strip noting that the onslaught was in self defense. "I understand Israel's need to defend itself. I am indeed concerned that the situation there requires that the rocket attacks stop against innocent Israeli civilians in their cities. I've also expressed to President Hosni Mubarak my concerns about innocent people in Gaza, civilians who have caught in the cross fire," Rice said at a joint press conference with her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit.
Responding to a question on the deployment of a guided-missile destroyer USS Cole to waters off Lebanon, Rice defended its deployment there, saying it was designed to show Washington's readiness to defend its allies' interests. "As to the American military presence, the US exercise a military presence in the region and it has for a very very long time," Rice told the reporters. "It is simply to make very clear that the US is capable and willing of defending its interests and the interests of its allies. That is really all that is happening there," she said.
Her tour comes a day after Israeli troops pulled out of Gaza following an offensive that killed more than 120 Palestinians, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday vowing to keep hitting the Strip.
She accused Hamas of seeking to stall stop Israeli-Palestinian talks. Obviously the situation in Gaza is one that is concerning…Hamas is doing what might be expected, which is using attacks, rocket attacks on Israel to try to arrest a peace process in which they have nothing to gain."
"And there are always going to be rejectionists who tray and prevent those negotiations and we talked about this at the time of the Anappolis…The negotiations are going to have to be able to withstand the efforts of rejectionists to upset them, to cause violence and chaos, so that people react by deciding not to negotiate. That is the game of those who don't want to see a Palestinian state established and Hamas does not want to see a Palestinian state established," Rice said.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that Rice's position was incitement to continue war against Hamas and the resistance. Zuhri added that Rice's words reflect the nature of its tour in the region. "Making such statements at this particular timing is aimed to deceive the people and cover for Bush's crime against the Palestinian people, because he gave green light for Israel to lauch its offensive against Gaza during his recent visit to the region," Abu Zuhri said. The Hamas official also called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, with whom Rice meets Tuesday, not to listen to top diplomat's calls to resume talks with Israel. "He must put an end to the negotiations and not to content himself with suspending them. That is the natural reaction to the Zionist massacre," he added. "
"04/03/2008 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in occupied Palestine on her last trip aimed at pushing forward Israeli-Palestinian talks at a time the blood of Palestinian children massacred in Gaza has not dried out yet.
Rice arrived from Egypt where she held talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo. She stressed her confidence in the chances of success for what she called "Israeli-Palestinian peace process" launched in November at Annapolis. She did not forget to look at the victim and the killer with the same eye.
Rice refrained from criticizing Israel over its "Operation Hot Winter" in the Gaza Strip noting that the onslaught was in self defense. "I understand Israel's need to defend itself. I am indeed concerned that the situation there requires that the rocket attacks stop against innocent Israeli civilians in their cities. I've also expressed to President Hosni Mubarak my concerns about innocent people in Gaza, civilians who have caught in the cross fire," Rice said at a joint press conference with her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit.
Responding to a question on the deployment of a guided-missile destroyer USS Cole to waters off Lebanon, Rice defended its deployment there, saying it was designed to show Washington's readiness to defend its allies' interests. "As to the American military presence, the US exercise a military presence in the region and it has for a very very long time," Rice told the reporters. "It is simply to make very clear that the US is capable and willing of defending its interests and the interests of its allies. That is really all that is happening there," she said.
Her tour comes a day after Israeli troops pulled out of Gaza following an offensive that killed more than 120 Palestinians, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday vowing to keep hitting the Strip.
She accused Hamas of seeking to stall stop Israeli-Palestinian talks. Obviously the situation in Gaza is one that is concerning…Hamas is doing what might be expected, which is using attacks, rocket attacks on Israel to try to arrest a peace process in which they have nothing to gain."
"And there are always going to be rejectionists who tray and prevent those negotiations and we talked about this at the time of the Anappolis…The negotiations are going to have to be able to withstand the efforts of rejectionists to upset them, to cause violence and chaos, so that people react by deciding not to negotiate. That is the game of those who don't want to see a Palestinian state established and Hamas does not want to see a Palestinian state established," Rice said.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that Rice's position was incitement to continue war against Hamas and the resistance. Zuhri added that Rice's words reflect the nature of its tour in the region. "Making such statements at this particular timing is aimed to deceive the people and cover for Bush's crime against the Palestinian people, because he gave green light for Israel to lauch its offensive against Gaza during his recent visit to the region," Abu Zuhri said. The Hamas official also called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, with whom Rice meets Tuesday, not to listen to top diplomat's calls to resume talks with Israel. "He must put an end to the negotiations and not to content himself with suspending them. That is the natural reaction to the Zionist massacre," he added. "
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