Abbas hopes for Palestine-Israel peace within a year

PALESTINIAN president Mahmoud Abbas yesterday said he hopes to reach a peace deal with Israel within a year, after reportedly receiving a promise from George Bush that the US president will push hard to conclude a Mideast agreement before the end of his term in 2008.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to start by formulating a “declaration of principles” with Abbas on the contours of a Palestinian state in Gaza and most of the West Bank, Olmert’s aides said, confirming a report in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz.

However, such a declaration would likely sidestep the most explosive issues, such as final borders, an arrangement for Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

In Gaza, meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes killed four Palestinian militants, including the military commander of the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, Omar Khatib.

A leader of Abbas’ vanquished forces in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, yesterday said he would resign as national security adviser, citing health reasons. Dahlan was widely blamed for the surprising collapse of the pro-Abbas forces in five days of fighting that ended with Hamas’ takeover of the coastal strip. Abbas has already dismissed more than a dozen security commanders following the fall of Gaza.

The Hamas takeover of Gaza has spurred a flurry of diplomatic activity, with the international community lining up behind Abbas and a West Bank-based government of moderates he has installed. The backlash against Hamas has also given new momentum to efforts to reach a final peace deal.

Bush has said an international peace conference would be held in the autumn, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is arriving next week for more talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and Tony Blair is settling in as the international Mideast envoy.