Israel’s government has been holding indirect talks with a Palestinian politician jailed for orchestrating terrorist attacks. Channel 2 television reported Monday that Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah lawmaker sentenced to five life prison terms in 2003, helped broker this week’s Gaza Strip cease-fire at the behest of the Olmert government, which contacted him through Chaim Oron, a Knesset member from the Meretz Party.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are trying to extend the Gaza Strip cease-fire to the West Bank. Following Sunday’s declaration of a Gaza truce, spokesmen for both sides said negotiations were under way for a similar deal in the West Bank.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
