After announcing last week it was ready to accept the Egyptian-backed reconciliation deal, the Hamas leadership has since changed courses and delayed sending a delegation to review a Palestinian unity agreement with Fatah in Cairo, claiming there were new conditions in the proposed deal that were never included in previous negotiations. Osama Hamdan who heads the de facto government's international relations said on October 18, "This is not in the spirit of reconciliation." Members of Hamas's political bureau in Lebanon said it was committed to achieving reconciliation, but that the agreement on the offer needed to be "reviewed and rectified".
However, Hussam Zaki, a spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry, denied that the Egypt-backed deal included new items, but was drafted with "utmost objectivity and integrity." He went on to say that "the unity deal came out of agreements reached among all parties and upon everybody's approval. The paper is proposed to be signed not negotiated or amended."
As a result, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced on October 23 that the next Palestinian elections will be held January 24, 2010 and not on June 28, 2010 as the reconciliation agreement proposed. Abbas said the vote would be held in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem, with the legislative and presidential elections to be held simultaneously.
On October 22, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton submitted an interim report on the status of U.S. peacemaking efforts, reporting to U.S. President Barack Obama that the United States has made little progress in its efforts to renew stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. An administration official said that during the meeting, Clinton advised the president that challenges remain before negotiations could resume. The official said the Palestinians have strengthened their security efforts, while the Israelis have expressed a willingness to curtail settlement activity. But the official said both sides need to do more for the process to move forward. Obama's envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell attended the meeting with Clinton and said that it was too soon to brand his efforts to resume peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders a failure.
Mitchell, who brokered the 1999 Northern Ireland peace agreement, said the administration was deeply committed to the peace process. He also said no president other than Barack Obama has taken action so early in his administration to start peace talks in the region. He went on to say that "there's a sense of urgency, a sense of involvement and commitment on the part of the president." However, Mitchell did acknowledge setbacks in the process, citing the Goldstone Report that accused Israel and Palestinian militants of committing war crimes last winter. "We continue in our efforts, notwithstanding that report," he said, noting that the United States' position remains that the report is one-sided and deeply flawed.
South African jurist Richard Goldstone who authored the UN report began speaking out this week. Goldstone has encountered a barrage of personal attacks against him since the report's publication, not only from the Obama Administration, but from inside Israel as well. On October 19 he urged the Israeli government to cooperate with calls for a full investigation into the war, and rejected the idea that the report would undermine the peace process. During a meeting with a group of rabbis in the U.S. he said "It's a shallow, utterly false allegation. What peace process are they talking about? There isn't one." He further challenged the U.S. to justify its claims that his findings are flawed and biased. Goldstone said he has not yet heard from the Obama Administration about the flaws Washington claims are inherent in the report saying "I would be happy to respond to them, if and when I know what they are."
Meanwhile on October 19, in what appears to be a growing act of desperation in the face of mounting international pressure for an investigation into charges of war crimes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the professional bodies within the relevant government ministries to examine the facilitating of an international initiative to change the laws of war in keeping with the spread of terrorism throughout the world. Netanyahu told members of his cabinet that "our challenge is to delegitimize the continuous attempt to delegitimize the State of Israel. The most important arena where we need to act in this context is in the arena of public opinion, which is crucial in the democratic world."
The same day, the U.S. pledged to join Israel in their efforts to fight the Goldstone Report. The offer came during a meeting between U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice and Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem. "It is outrageous that a respected institution like the United Nations provides a platform to spread lies and stories about Israel," Peres told Rice during their closed-door meeting. "We will not tolerate our youth being labeled war criminals. We must do everything to stop the deceptions and wrongs produced by the Goldstone Report," he continued. Rice promised that the United States would continue to stand by Israel in their efforts to delegitimize the report.
Also on October 20, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat landed in Washington, where he was expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other American officials to discuss the first phase of the road map for Mideast peace and the renewal of final-status talks. Erekat, who was also due to meet with U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones and George Mitchell, reiterated that the most important issue remains the freezing of all Israeli settlement construction. He went on to say "there are no interim solutions. It's not a precondition for negotiations, but an explicit Israeli commitment that they have to meet." Erekat also said there is an American plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace, but noted its irrelevance as long as Israel continues building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
On October 23, a senior security source in the Israeli defense establishment confirmed that West Bank settlers have recently been making a marked effort to speed up construction in at least 11 settlements, before the United States and Israel can reach an agreement on a freeze.
On October 22, 28-year-old Mohammad Abdul Rahman Qawariq from the village of A'warta, south of Nablus died while speeding away from Israeli forces in the northern West Bank, according to Palestinian medics and Israel's military. A purported eyewitness said "he was surprised by a temporary checkpoint in front of him. He was unable to stop and Israeli forces chased him." The witness went on to add "a number of Israeli soldiers began shooting at the car, after which he lost control. It flipped and killed him instantly." An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that Qawariq died after his car crashed while speeding away from military forces, but insisted that at no time were shots fired in the direction of his car.
On October 21, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a request by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to visit the Gaza Strip. Kouchner had requested to travel to Gaza during an upcoming visit to Israel and the West Bank. Kouchner wanted to visit Al-Quds Hospital, which France pledged to help rebuild after Israeli forces destroyed the attack on Gaza last winter. However, Netanyahu sent a message to the French minister denying the request, saying that the de facto Hamas government would probably use the visit for positive publicity.