Israelis and Palestinians neared agreement on Friday over disarming Palestinian militants ahead of an upcoming summit with US President George W. Bush, but security remained a key issue -- underscored by a US Embassy warning that it has received "credible reports" of plans to kidnap US citizens in Gaza.
The Israelis have demanded Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas wage a decisive crackdown on militant groups in the West Bank and Gaza responsible for attacks against Israelis. Abbas has said he preferred to use persuasion to stop the attacks and has been working to negotiate ceasefires with the groups.
The two sides said on Friday they would be willing to accept a combination of the two plans.
Abbas told Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a meeting on Thursday night that the planned ceasefire would only be the first phase of a crackdown, a senior Palestinian official said on Friday. Afterward, if Israel refrained from military operations in Palestinian areas, the Palestinians would collect illegal weapons and force the militant groups to integrate into the Palestinian political system, the official said.
Sharon understood that efforts to shut down the extremist groups would have to start with a cease-fire, Sharon adviser Zalman Shoval said.
"There was an understanding, but I want to be clear that they have to start cracking down on terror immediately," Shoval said. "If they want to do this by starting with a ceasefire, then we welcome this."
In general, the Israelis believed Abbas was heading in the right direction, he said.
"We got the impression that the Palestinians were serious about fighting the terror," Shoval said.
Also Friday, the US Embassy announced it had received "credible reports" of plans to kidnap US citizens in the Gaza Strip.
"At this time, Americans are advised to be particularly cautious," the Embassy said in an announcement on its Web site, adding that citizens should also follow already-existing recommendations to defer travel to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.
The US Embassy declined to elaborate. The US government has been more active in sending out warnings since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The Islamic militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad are mainly based in Gaza. Both groups have claimed responsibility for scores of attacks in Israel that have killed more than 350 people in the past 32 months of violence.
Though Americans have been killed over the years in the Middle East conflict, they have usually died in attacks that specifically targeted Israelis, not them.
"We are battling with the Zionist enemy and not with the United States," Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi said on Friday, referring to Israel. Hamas "will not target any American or any other nationalities."
Some Palestinian and Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip hold American citizenship, and there also are a number of US citizens in the area as international aid workers and peace activists. The US Embassy said there are less than 500 Americans in Gaza.
The existing travel advisory on the Web site warns that "Ongoing violence has caused numerous civilian deaths and injuries, including to some American tourists, students and residents. The potential for further terrorist acts remains high."
Declarations by each side recognizing the rights of the other to statehood and security are supposed to be the first step of the US-backed road map peace plan.
A committee of Israeli and Palestinian officials were meeting on Friday and Saturday in an effort to finalize agreements on those declarations, said Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath.
"I think that the draft will be ready before the Aqaba meeting," he said.
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