December 1, 2009

Israel has lifted orders for the capture of a new batch of fugitives from president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party provided they do not leave Palestinian-administered areas, a spokesman said on Friday. …

Under the 2007 deal, agreed in a bid to boost Abbas after the Islamist Hamas movement ousted his loyalists from Gaza, fugitives must surrender their weapons to the Palestinian security services and renounce the armed struggle in order to benefit from the lifting of the orders for their capture. So far, more than 150 Fatah activists have taken up the offer.

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“We knew at the outset that the task would be difficult. We acknowledged that publicly and privately. We knew this would be a road with many bumps— and there have been many bumps—and that continues to this day. But we are not deterred. We are, to the contrary, determined more than ever to proceed to realize the common objective, which we all share, of a Middle East that is at peace with security and prosperity for the people of Israel, for Palestinians, and for all the people in the region. We will continue our efforts in that regard, undeterred and undaunted by the difficulties, the complexities or the bumps in the road.”—George Mitchell, special envoy for Middle East peace, remarks with Prime Minister Netanyahu, September 29, 2010

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