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'Resume peace talks quickly'
04/03/2008 12:18 - (SA)
Brussels - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Palestinians to quickly resume peace talks with Israel, suspended in protest over an Israeli military offensive that killed more than 100 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Despite the violence, she said a deal to end the six-decade conflict is still possible before President George W Bush leaves office.
"I'm hopeful that we can get through this current situation and get back to negotiations," Rice said as she headed to the Mideast for meetings that amount to a rescue mission for a peace push Bush launched last fall.
Gaza and the Palestinian leadership split that underlies the crisis are the largest potential deal-killers for Bush's goal to sign a peace treaty before the close of his term in January.
The crisis comes on top of the usual list of obstacles that have spiked previous peace attempts, and with only 10 months left on the calendar Bush set.
"I continue to believe that they can get to a deal by the end of the year if everyone's got the will to do it," Rice said.
Palestinian leaders pulled out of peace talks, at least temporarily, after Israeli troops, tanks and warplanes launched a major weekend sweep against militant Palestinians who use the tiny Gaza territory to launch rocket attacks on Israel.
Photographs of dead and injured Palestinian children blanketed Arab media on Sunday and on Monday amid stern international warnings to Israel to avoid what Palestinians and others say is the indiscriminate killing of civilians.
Israel pulled its forces out of the territory on Monday even as Israel's defence chief warned that a larger assault might be in the offing.
The top US diplomat condemned the rocket attacks and blamed Hamas militants for initiating the current round of violence. She said she would urge that the talks begin again fast, but set no deadline.
Rice declined to call for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, but said all violence must stop. Without criticising Israel, Rice suggested she would be blunt about the stakes involved in further military action.
"The issue of the loss of innocent life is one that needs to be very much in the centre of everyone's mind ... and one always has to think in carrying out military operations about the day after. So those are the discussions that I'll have with the Israelis," she said.
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