Truce Might Not Last

     AP     2003/07/8

A truce with Israel is faced by "many obstacles" and will not last unless Israel frees all Palestinian prisoners, a leader of Hamas warned Tuesday.  "I don't think the truce will last for long because (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon has not abided by its provisions," Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the Hamas Politburo, said in an interview with The Associated Press and AP Television News.

The truce began June 30 when Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have carried deadly suicide bombings in Israel, promised to halt such attacks for three months.

Israel's Cabinet approved guidelines on Sunday for freeing several hundred prisoners, but said members of groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad and anyone involved in attacks on Israelis would not be freed.

Israel holds some 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

While Israel has offered to release only 400 prisoners, Abu Marzouk said, "The Palestinian side has presented lists of 6,500 Palestinian prisoners. But the total number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons is 8,000."

Abu Marzouk said Israel had to meet two conditions for the truce to hold: Halt targeted assassinations of militant Palestinian leaders and the arrests of Palestinians, and the release of all Palestinian prisoners. "If Israel fails to release all the 8,000 Palestinian prisoners, Hamas will not abide by the truce," he said.

Abu Marzouk scoffed at U.S. President George W. Bush's call on the world to fight Hamas, saying Washington has "entirely adopted Israel's position. The U.S. position should have been more just and fair. The Palestinians are homeless and have been living in camps for over 50 years. They want to return to their homeland in Palestine," he said.

Abu Marzouk staunchly rejected calls by Bush and Sharon on the Palestinian Authority to dismantle and disarm Hamas. However, he said Hamas will renounce armed struggle against Israel only when Palestinians living in Diaspora are allowed to return to their homes from which they were displaced before the creation of Israel in 1948. "Hamas will not abandon the resistance or lay down weapons except with the liberation of Palestinian land and the return of its people to their homeland," Abu Marzouk said. "We want the Palestinian people to live free and independent in their homeland. Arms are a means to attain this goal. Once this goal is attained, then there will be no need for the carrying of arms or resistance," he added.

Abu Marzouk said a major objective of Hamas was to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. Hamas and Islamic Jihad were among several Palestinian groups that rejected peace with Israel.