Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that a peace initiative laid out the day before by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was a "positive" step toward peacemaking.
"We look at it positively, especially that Mr. Olmert clearly referred to the Arab peace plan, which we consider as one the most significant bases for a solution to the Palestinian issue presented by the Arabs," Abbas said following talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman.
Abbas said if Olmert's "intentions are good, then we can build on this in order to put forward a plan for future negotiations on all issues related to the Palestinian cause."
"They [the Israelis] say we want this and that, it's important, but the content of the initiative is positive and we will respond to it positively in an official statement," he said, according to the AP. Abbas said that he will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the West Bank "later" this week.
Meanwhile, Palestinian gunners in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday fired a Qassam rocket into Israel, despite a three-day ceasefire under effect. According to Haaretz, the rocket landed in an open field north of the western town of Sderot Tuesday evening.
Earlier, Israel's Defense Minister Amir Peretz warned the Palestinian Authority to enforce the truce, saying that failure to do so could force a "fierce" Israeli response.
