The US made its first contact with the new Hamas-Fatah coalition -- ending a yearlong diplomatic boycott of the Palestinian government just three days after the more moderate unity team took office.
The meeting on Tuesday between a US diplomat and the Palestinian finance minister signaled a break in policy between Israel and its closest ally and could mark a significant step toward ending a painful aid cutoff against the Palestinian government.
Jacob Walles, the US consul in Jerusalem, set the precedent with a short 10km drive to the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he met Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, an internationally respected economist and political independent. It was the first official US meeting with a Palestinian Cabinet minister in a year.
"This meeting was part of my contacts with the international community," Fayyad told reporters.
Fayyad, a former World Bank official, has been leading Palestinian efforts to end international sanctions, imposed a year ago when Hamas won an election and established a government.
The US, EU and Israel label Hamas a terror group and ban contact with it.
Hamas still holds the most seats in the Palestinian Cabinet, including the post of prime minister. But the addition of prominent figures like Fayyad to the team has brought into question the concept of boycotting the whole Cabinet, as Israel is doing.
In Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the meeting was in accordance with US policy.
"We weren't going to cut off contacts with those individuals with whom we had previously had contact," he said. "I know the Israeli government has a different view in this regard."
Israel itself often sent officials to meet Fayyad when he served as finance minister in a Fatah-led Cabinet. Israel and the West have maintained constant contact with President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah -- a moderate elected separately from the Hamas-dominated parliament.
But Israel has been adamant about imposing a total ban on the new unity government. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert even ruled out peace talks with Abbas, saying contacts would be limited to humanitarian issues, and Israel has been urging the US and Europe to keep up the diplomatic and aid ban.
The response has been lukewarm. US officials said they would meet individually with non-Hamas officials, and Tuesday's meeting between Walles and Fayyad signaled that the diplomatic boycott had ended.
In a statement, the US State Department said only that the talks were "part of an ongoing dialogue on a variety of issues."
Olmert's office pointedly refused to comment on the Fayyad-Walles meeting.
As consul in Jerusalem, Walles serves as the de facto US ambassador to the Palestinian territories.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old