JERUSALEM, Feb. 7 -- Israel and the Palestinians will issue separate but mutually dependent vows Tuesday to halt military operations against each other, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials who expressed hope that the move would eventually lead to the end of more than four years of fighting.
The statements to be made by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh will not amount to a joint cease-fire agreement, the officials said late Monday. Rather, they said, they are intended to reinforce each other, and the commitments made by each side will be dependent on the other fulfilling its obligations.
Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian cabinet member and the chief negotiator with Israel, said that "Abbas will declare an end to violence against Israelis everywhere, and Sharon will declare an end to violence against Palestinians everywhere."
However, Sharon's spokesman, Raanan Gissin, emphasized some distinctions between the two sides' positions. The Palestinians, he said, "will make a declaration in a speech stating there is a cessation and end to violence, and the prime minister will make a separate statement saying that, to the extent the Palestinians stop violence, Israel will stop all military activity. . . . The end result will be, if it's followed, that a cease-fire will be in place."
In the campaign to replace the late Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority, Abbas sought to build support among Palestinians for ending violence against Israel and returning to peace negotiations. Following his election on Jan. 9, he held intensive talks with Palestinian militant factions aimed at halting attacks on Israeli targets. While faction leaders cautioned Monday night that they had not committed their organizations to a formal cease-fire, the steps to be taken at Tuesday's summit could produce at least a pause in more than four years of fighting in which about 1,000 Israelis and more than 3,000 Palestinians have been killed.
The summit follows a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who announced on Monday that the United States would appoint a special coordinator to oversee and monitor new security agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
Concluding a 24-hour stop in the Middle East that included talks with Sharon and Abbas, Rice stressed that the United States was committed to an active role in trying to help Israelis and Palestinians bridge their differences.
"There should be no doubt about the commitment of the United States to this process at this time, no doubt about the commitment of the president and no doubt about my own personal commitment," Rice said during a news conference with Abbas at the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in Ramallah, just north of Jerusalem. "This is a time when we want to seize the opportunity."
As part of that commitment, Rice announced the appointment of Army Lt. Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward as security coordinator to oversee the evolving rapprochement between Israel and the Palestinians and to help the Palestinians consolidate and strengthen their 12 disparate security agencies.
In addition, she said Abbas and Sharon had accepted invitations from President Bush to visit the White House separately this spring, and she announced the release of about $40 million in the next 90 days for a "quick-action program" to create jobs, rebuild infrastructure and fund other projects to help the Palestinians.
Rice said that Ward, who is currently deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Europe and the 7th Army, would visit the region in the next few weeks.
Ward commanded the NATO-led Stabilization Force in Bosnia before taking his current post. According to a senior State Department official traveling with Rice, she selected Ward because she was impressed with his experience in Egypt, where he was chief of the Office of Military Cooperation, the top U.S. military official working with the Egyptian military.
Rice did not fully define Ward's responsibilities, but she made clear that his portfolio would be limited to security matters and would not extend to political affairs. She said Ward would "make sure that the parties understand each other, and we understand what the parties are doing, so we can raise it at the appropriate level" if action is needed.
"It really is to provide a focal point for training, equipping, helping the Palestinians to build their security forces and also for monitoring, and if necessary, to help the parties on security matters," Rice said.
