According to the BBC, Hamas says it's willing to talk truce w/ Israel, provided the Israelis meet certain "conditions". One of these conditions is pulling back to pre-1967 borders.
Ariel Sharon was on his way to pulling back from large portions of the West Bank, but on Israel's terms, not those of Hamas.
This is the way to continue, in my opinion. Hamas is not interested in long-term peace with Israel. They state in their charter they are committed to the destruction of the Jewish state. Maybe they've changed, as they claim. But they've got to prove it first.
Until they prove they've changed, Hamas should not dictate anything to Israel. The Israelis are well along in their disengagement from the Palestinians. I say stay the course until Hamas or some other group proves they: 1) can effectively govern the Palestinian territories, 2) can prevent terrorism, and 3) are ready to seriously commit to a mutually-beneficial long-term solution.
Until then, I'm not really interested in anything the Palestinians and, especially, Hamas have to say. Hamas says they want to talk? Really? That's great. How about you call back when we can check off those three items above? In the meanwhile, the Israelis will continue to build the wall and prepare to live their lives without you. Thanks for calling.
I'm not there, and I don't know much about day-to-day life in Israel right now, but I sure do wish Sharon was healthy and running the show. He had the force of personality to continue the unilateral path he'd begun. Ehud Olmert and the rest of Israel's political leadership needs to prove they can do it too.
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