Jerusalem, Aug 24: Israel today rejected as "not serious" a proposal by the Palestinian leadership for a truce and reiterated its demand that radical groups be dismantled before any resumption of peace talks. Palestinian officials said yesterday a new truce was possible if the Israelis formally recognised it, pulled out of occupied towns and ended their practice of "targeted killings" of militant leaders.
But senior Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner dismissed the suggestion, saying "it is not serious".
"As long as terrorist organisations continue to exist there will not be the possibility of a real ceasefire," he told.
The remarks came two days after the radical groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad formally called off their seven-week-old truce because of an Israeli airstrike on a Hamas leader launched in reprisal for a massive suicide bombing Tuesday.
Osama al-Baz, the top adviser to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, triggered the effort for a new truce Friday in an impromptu visit to see Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian leaders in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Pazner repeated Israeli demands that the Palestinian authority take all measures to disarm and dismantle the hardline groups, and arrest and prosecute their leaders for involvement in violence.
"Only after that can the peace process continue," he said.
Bureau Report