A senior Fatah leader Wednesday returned to Gaza for the first time since the territory was seized by the Hamas in 2007, saying he hopes to help end the rift between the bitter rivals. Nabil Shaath, a Gaza native, was set to meet with senior Hamas officials, including Gaza strongman Mahmoud Zahar. As he crossed into Gaza from Israel, he handed his passport to Hamas border guards for registration in a powerful symbolic recognition of Hamas authority. At a joint news conference late Wednesday, Shaath and Hamas official Khalil Al-Haya both said the talks were meant to lead to reconciliation, though neither detailed steps to overcome the differences. However, the cordial tone of the meeting was a contrast to a year of insults flying back and forth between the two sides. “This visit has come late,” said Shaath. However, Abbas played down the move at a West Bank news conference with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.“It (Gaza) is our land and it is the right of any Palestinian to go there,” Abbas said. Meanwhile, Hamas Wednesday formally rejected allegations it had committed war crimes during last year's fighting in Gaza, charges made in a United Nations report. Hamas officials said the group set out in a 52-page response handed to a UN official in Gaza that the killing of three Israeli civilians in rocket attacks during Israel's Dec. 27, 2008-Jan. 18, 2009 offensive was an accident and military installations had been targeted. ‘Talks could resume in weeks' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he had reason to believe that long-stalled peace talks with the Palestinians could resume in a matter of weeks. Netanyahu did not give details, but an official indicated Israel would take a step to make it possible for the Palestinians to agree to talks. He did not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because no offer has been made.
