After a short pause in peace talks, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday he would resume negotiations with Israel – a turnabout from his statement earlier in the day when he said Palestinians would not talk with Israel until a ceasefire is reached.
Abbas said peace was “our strategic choice”, and that it would end the Israeli “occupation” of the Palestinian territories and result in a Palestinian state, according to CNN.
Although Abbas did not disclose when exactly talks would be resumed, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said based on the peace talk timetable, Palestinian and Israeli leaders are scheduled to meet next week, according to The Associated Press.
Israel ended a five-day military operation in Gaza on Monday that killed at least 110 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers. More than half of the Palestinians killed were said to be civilians, including a six-month-old baby and several children.
The fight was sparked by Gaza militants who launched dozens of missiles into southern Israel, leaving one person dead. Palestinian rockets fire into Israel nearly every day but do not normally injure or kill anyone.
The World Council of Churches, the world’s largest ecumenical body, condemned the Israeli military for killing civilians in Gaza, as well as militants in Gaza for firing into Israel.
“We absolutely condemn these deadly attacks on civilians by the Israeli military on Gaza and by militants firing rockets from Gaza,” said WCC general secretary the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, in a statement. “Incessant violations of life and of human rights must stop.”
Kobia called on Israel to stop its blockade on Gaza, which affects the supply of food, fuel, medicine and other essential needs. Israel has allowed some fuel and medicinal supplies into Gaza, but has kept the border checkpoints closed except for emergency humanitarian needs.
Human rights groups have also protested against the blockade, arguing that Israel is punishing innocent civilians in their fight against the Hamas leadership.
Earlier this year, the United Methodist Board of Church and Society in the US urged its church members and agencies to divest from Caterpillar because it accused the company of facilitating Israel’s destruction of Palestinian property. Moreover, the Washington-based Methodist Federation for Social Action called for divestment from all “companies supporting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and other violations of human rights in Israel/Palestine”.
Mark Tooley, the US-based Institute on Religion & Democracy’s director of UMAction, countered: “Israel is unremittingly portrayed as the chief obstacle to Middle East peace by these radicalised United Methodist groups, and by extension, the United States is viewed as directly complicit through its support of Israel."
He continued: “Widespread parts of the United Methodist Church bureaucracy are claiming one primary solution to Middle East violence: punish Israel.”
