Extremists' common purpose: sabotage Mideast peace talks

HEBRON, West Bank —

The fate of the U.S.-sponsored peace talks that began Thursday in Washington could hinge in part on how things play out in the hotly disputed West Bank city of Hebron, where extremists on opposite sides suddenly find they share a common purpose: to sabotage the process.

The militant Palestinian movement Hamas, which controls one of the two Palestinian territories and hasn't openly attacked West Bank settlers in about two years, renewed its campaign of violence this week with two drive-by shootings. It claimed responsibility for killing four settlers near Hebron on Tuesday and injuring two others a day later near Ramallah.

Jewish settlers near Hebron responded by throwing rocks at Palestinians and setting fire to a field. On Thursday, they demonstrated their contempt for what they termed the "fancy ceremonies" in Washington by rolling out bulldozers and cement mixers to resume construction in defiance of Israel's 10-month moratorium on settlement construction.

Settlers also are calling for the reinstallation of West Bank checkpoints and the waiving of gun permits to enable settlers to carry weapons.

The developments serve as a reminder that before Israeli and Palestinian negotiators can tackle big-picture issues such as the borders of a Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem and refugees, the peace process will have to survive some daunting short-term challenges. Among them are the Sept. 26 expiration of Israel's construction moratorium and a spike in Palestinian violence.

Hebron, home to more than 150,000 Palestinians and 400 Jewish settlers, is often at the center of the storm, and it is once again. Residents are bracing themselves and warn that violence could spread to other parts of the West Bank.

"The talks have renewed the cycle of violence," said Khaled Amayreh, a Palestinian journalist and analyst. "Things are heating up."

Test of resolve

The next month will test the resolve of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, analysts say.

Friction and violence at the launch of peace talks are nothing new. The question is whether the leaders will press ahead despite provocations or use them as justification to walk away.

Netanyahu, Abbas and their U.S. mediators Thursday decided, quietly, to push aside the question of Hamas, which rejects peace negotiations, so the peace talks could progress.

But Hamas let it be known it would not be left out of the equation with its attacks this week.

"The attacks were meant to tell Abbas he is not the one who decides the fate of the Palestinians," Ahmed Yousef, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, said Thursday, adding that the group deserves a place in national decision-making because it won parliamentary elections in 2006.

"Hamas will never agree to be ignored and isolated, and it can reshuffle the cards," he said.

Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, one of the two territories that are supposed to be part of a future Palestinian state. It wields virtual veto power over any agreement and has given no indication it would be willing to accept a deal with Israel reached by Abbas, who runs the rival government in the West Bank.

Abbas has rejected any suggestion of a partial solution granting independence only to the West Bank and its 2.4 million Palestinians. This would be perceived by the Palestinian public as a massive sellout and sign of weakness. Hamas would paint Abbas as a traitor.

"Any result and outcome of these talks does not commit us and does not commit our people. It only commits Abbas himself," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza.

Abbas has repeatedly said he will present any peace deal to a national referendum, a vote that would include the people of Gaza. A vote in favor of peace would put heavy pressure on Hamas to accept the will of the Palestinian people.

Happens every time

"In every conflict, the closer the sides have gotten to an agreement, the more the peace spoilers started coming out of the woodwork," said professor Tamar Hermann, senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a research group. "But this is a transitional phase and if we give in to it, we will miss the opportunity."

Settlement construction could offer the first glimpse of how committed both sides are to talks. Netanyahu has resisted Palestinian demands to extend the freeze, while Abbas has threatened to quit talks unless the freeze continues. Both men are under tremendous domestic pressure to stick to their positions and equally strong pressure from the U.S. and international community to bend.

Analysts have said the two sides need to find a way to finesse the issue in coming weeks so they can move on to other, equally weighty topics.

Netanyahu's position will demonstrate how serious his intentions are, wrote Eitan Haber, Israeli analyst and former adviser to assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, on the Ynet news site Thursday. "Americans and Palestinians will view the freeze as a test case."

At the same time, if Netanyahu refuses to budge, Abbas will face a similar dilemma over whether to reverse his stance or abandon what many experts think could be the last round of negotiations for some time.

The attacks on Israeli settlers upped the ante for both men.

Netanyahu rejected immediate calls for him to quit talks and return home.

David Wilder, spokesman of the Jewish Community in Hebron, blasted the U.S.-brokered peace process as an attempt to "sink Israel. ... These attacks cannot continue, and the only way to stop them is to stop acquiescing to Obama and the terrorists who want to destroy us."

Hamas leaders promised the violence would only continue, calling the first two attacks the start of a "series of operations" to be carried out by its militant wing.

Hamas turnaround

Although Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million Palestinians live, its operatives in the West Bank moved underground after the 2007 split with Abbas' more moderate Fatah party. In response to the Hamas attacks this week, Palestinian Authority security officers arrested several hundred Hamas supporters, Hamas officials said.

The attacks marked a turning point for Hamas, which has generally avoided armed assaults and rocket attacks against Israeli citizens since Israel's 22-day assault against Hamas' positions in Gaza Strip in late 2008 and early 2009. Though rocket attacks from Gaza have continued to strike southern Israel, other militant groups claimed responsibility and Hamas had tried to prevent such attacks, saying they were not in the "Palestinian national interest."

That informal policy appears to have changed, probably because of the resumption of peace talks. Hamas officials claim that the resumption of armed attacks in the West Bank is not an attempt to spoil peace talks, but critics noted that the Islamist movement has been harshly critical of the process.

The group's attacks could soon present another challenge to budding peace talks. Israel has not responded militarily, but Hamas officials are bracing for a round of retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza once Netanyahu concludes the peace summit in Washington.

Researcher Batsheva Sobelman in the Times' Jerusalem bureau and special correspondent Rushdi abu Alouf in Gaza City contributed to this report.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.