The diplomatic “quartet” seeking Middle East peace on Thursday urged the militant group Hamas, shock winners in the Palestinian elections, to renounce violence and accept Israel’s right to exist.
The quartet issued its statement after a conference call between United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Without naming Hamas, the quartet reiterated its view “that there is a fundamental contradiction between armed group and militia activities and the building of a democratic state.
“A two-state solution to the conflict requires all participants in the democratic process to renounce violence and terror, accept Israel’s right to exist, and disarm, as outlined in the [quartet-drafted peace] roadmap.”
The quartet held its conference call ahead of a meeting on Monday in London to plot its strategy after Hamas — branded a terrorist organisation bent on Israel’s destruction — swamped moderates in Wednesday’s parliamentary polls.
The quartet hailed the elections as “free, fair and secure” and called on all parties to respect the results that gave the hardline Islamic movement a clear majority in the legislature. It insisted the peace process was not dead.
“The Palestinian people have voted for change, but it is the view of the quartet that their aspirations for peace and statehood … remain unchanged,” the four diplomatic powers said.
The statement gave no sign of whether the quartet would deal with a Palestinian government formed by Hamas, which has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks on Israel in recent years.
However, in an interview with CBS Radio News after the call, Rice stressed that the four emphasized the need for “any government” of the Palestinians to be committed to the “roadmap”, a plan to carve out a two-state peace between the Palestinians and Israel.
“We were in firm agreement that the Palestinian people deserve a peaceful future,” Rice said.
“They deserve the kind of peaceful future that the roadmap can give them, but any government is going to have to be committed to those principles of the roadmap,” she said.
“The international community is going to be prepared to move forward on the roadmap,” Rice said.
Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack declined to comment on whether the quartet discussed the possibility of the US cutting off aid to the new Hamas-led government.
The United States has provided about $1,7-billion in assistance to the Palestinians since 1993. – AFP