From: Dr. Aaron Lerner
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2014 12:26 AM <= as of 29 July reply not received
To: PressDuty@state.gov
Subject: QUESTION TO STATE DEPARTMENT ABOUT U.S. POSITION ON UNIFIED PA

Greetings,

Background:

#1. [2 June 2014 State Department Press Briefing] MS. PSAKI: "Well, at
this point, it appears that President Abbas has formed an interim
technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with
Hamas. Moving forward, we will be judging this government by its actions.
Based on what we know now, we intend to work with this government, but we’ll
be watching closely to ensure that it upholds the principles that President
Abbas reiterated today...Well, we condemn all rocket attacks from Gaza. We
would also expect President Abbas to do so as he has in the past, and we
expect the Palestinian Authority to do everything in its power to prevent
attacks from Gaza into Israel. But we recognize that Hamas currently
controls Gaza, and we’ll be closely monitoring the security situation moving
forward."

#2. [2 June 2014 Ceremony establishing unified PA government] Mahmoud
Abbas: "stressing the new government’s commitment to the obligations of the
Palestinian Authority and all previously signed agreements".

#3. Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip
Washington, D.C., September 28, 1995
CHAPTER 2 ARTICLE XIV 4. Except for the arms, ammunition and equipment of
the Palestinian Police described in Annex I, and those of the Israeli
military forces, no organization, group or individual in the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip shall manufacture, sell, acquire, possess, import or
otherwise introduce into the West Bank or the Gaza Strip any firearms,
ammunition, weapons, explosives, gunpowder or any related equipment, unless
otherwise provided for in Annex I.

THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN INTERIM AGREEMENT ON THE WEST BANK AND THE GAZA
STRIP
Annex I ARTICLE IV 5. c. In the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Police will
possess the following arms and equipment:
(1) 7,000 light personal weapons;
(2) up to 120 machine guns of 0.3" or 0.5" caliber; and
(3) up to 45 wheeled armored vehicles of a type to be agreed on between the
two sides, and of which 22 will be deployed in protecting Council
installations.

Question: given that the above "previously signed agreement" prohibits the
presence of rockets in the Gaza Strip, does the U.S. expect the PA to honor
this agreement and remove the rockets?

Best regards,
Dr. Aaron Lerner www.imra.org.il

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