3 Interlocking Peace Negotiations Put Israel, Palestinians at Impasse

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left, at the opening of an Arab summit in Damascus, Syria. (By Omar Rashidi -- Palestinian Authority Via Associated Press)

Barak, now Israel's defense minister, said in an interview that the Palestinians have not done what they were supposed to do under the 2003 plan known as the "road map" to peace -- namely to improve security and crack down on extremist groups.

"They lost clumsily the control of half of their own people. And they lost track of weapons," Barak said, referring to Fatah's withdrawal from Gaza last June after days of gun battles with Hamas fighters.

The result of the Palestinian Authority's failure, he said, is that Israel is asked to make more concessions. "We are called of course to double our efforts to help them, because they're weak," he said. "It's ridiculous."

Barak said Wednesday that he had agreed to allow the transfer of armored vehicles and other security equipment to Abbas's government. He also announced a slight easing of travel restrictions for West Bank businessmen.

But he stopped well short of announcing the removal of checkpoints and other barriers, more than 500 of which block Palestinians' access to internal West Bank roads.

As part of the peace process, Israel was supposed to take down the obstructions, eliminate illegal settler outposts and stop construction of new settlements. None of that has happened, a fact that rankles Palestinian Authority officials who are looking for goodwill gestures that will help convince a disenchanted Palestinian public that talk -- not violence -- pays off.

"The model in the West Bank is not working. If it is, somebody please tell me, because I need to tell the people," Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority prime minister, said in an interview in his Ramallah office. "It's critical that there's progress to take us out of the corner we're in."

Meanwhile, negotiations on final-status issues such as the boundaries of the future Palestinian state, the rights of refugees and control of Jerusalem are being conducted in strict secrecy, with no hints of progress. "We decided that until everything is agreed, nothing is agreed," said Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister.

Even if there is an agreement, all sides acknowledge they will be incapable of implementing it as long as Hamas controls Gaza.

Israel has contemplated a military invasion to retake the coastal strip, which it left in 2005. But such an operation would be very bloody.

With rockets arcing into southern Israel from Gaza every day, the Jewish state has opted to negotiate -- trading truce proposals with Hamas in a process mediated by the Egyptians.

Israel will not negotiate directly, because it considers Hamas a terrorist organization. Hamas refuses to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. But analysts say a temporary cease-fire could serve both sides, giving Israel relief from the rockets and Hamas time to regroup.