French leader: Israel, Palestinians OK Gaza plan

By CHRISTINE OLLIVIER, Associated Press Writer

PARIS – French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that Israel and the Palestinian Authority have accepted an Egyptian-French plan for Gaza.

Sarkozy made no mention of Hamas, the group that controls Gaza and is fighting with Israel, and an Israeli government spokesman stopped short of endorsing the plan.

The French president said in a statement issued upon his return from the Middle East that he "strongly welcomes the acceptance by Israel and the Palestinian Authority of the French-Egyptian plan presented yesterday by (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak."

Sarkozy's statement did not give details of the plan, but appeared to go further than Israel, which said through a spokesman only that it "welcomes" the proposal. Spokesman Mark Regev said Israel could accept the proposal if it halts "hostile fire" from Gaza and includes measures to prevent Hamas from rearming.

Sarkozy's spokesman, Franck Louvrier, seemed to take a more cautious tone than his boss.

Louvrier said Sarkozy's statement was "a reaction to the fact that, according to contacts with different interlocutors, they would accept the plan introduced yesterday as a departure point for discussion, which would allow a renewal of dialogue."

France's government minister for human rights, Rama Yade, also welcomed what he called "the positive reception that Israel and the Palestinian Authority have reserved for this plan."

"This step is today the only one that is realistic and should allow as quickly as possible the reopening of points of access to the Gaza Strip," she told lawmakers in the lower house of France's parliament.

Mubarak proposed the plan, which included calling for an immediate cease-fire between Palestinian militants and Israel, on Tuesday, when he also spoke with Sarkozy in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Israel says its operation has been aimed at halting persistent rocket fire at its territory from Gaza, which Hamas seized from the Palestinian Authority in the summer of 2007. The world community has largely isolated Hamas — which does not recognize Israel's right to exist and is seen by many countries as a terrorist group — and Israel imposed a blockade on the territory, which Hamas officials have cited as the reason for the continuing rocket attacks.

There was no immediate confirmation of his statement from the Palestinian Authority.

In Turkey, a Middle Eastern diplomat said Ankara will be given the task of constructing an international force for Gaza, but did not say what role the force would play. Some European officials have spoken of an international mission to help guard Gaza's borders — a possible means of prompting Israel to remove the blockade.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.