07/10/2001: Daily Press Briefing Excerpts

 Complete July 10, 2001 State Deparatment Briefing

Q: Do you have anything on Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs being sent to the region as an open-ended envoy? That sounds rather peculiar, but you know what I mean.

And also, do you have any reaction to more bulldozing of Palestinian houses today?

MR. BOUCHER: Yes. Let me start out with the travel of David Satterfield, the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near East Affairs. He will travel to the region later this week for meetings with the parties. The focus of his trip is to follow up on the discussions that Assistant Secretary Burns and Secretary Powell have held in the region. Clearly, the emphasis will be on improving security cooperation, the restoration of calm and progress towards implementation of the Mitchell Committee recommendations in all their aspects.

As for the situation on the ground, with the demolitions, we are deeply troubled by the Israeli entry into Palestinian controlled areas and the demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem and Rafah over the last two days. We've been in contact with the Israeli Government at the highest levels in the last 24 hours and we have urged an immediate halt to any further demolition of Palestinian homes and destruction of Palestinian property. Actions such as these demolitions are highly provocative, they undermine confidence and trust between the parties and they can only make it much more difficult to restore calm and move forward with the implementation of the Mitchell Committee recommendations.

It continues to be our hope that the improvements that we saw in the security situation last week will be restored and sustained. And it remains, in our view, absolutely critical that the Palestinian Authority exert its maximum efforts to bring the violence to a halt. Furthermore, Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders must also sustain and improve their cooperation on security issues, abide by their commitments in the Tenet work plan and avoid provocative actions that make the restoration of trust and confidence more difficult.

Our representatives in the region remain in continuous contact with Palestinian and Israeli leaders on the political and the security side. Our efforts are focused on security cooperation and practical efforts to bring down the violence and to move forward discussion of the Mitchell timeline.

Q: (Inaudible) said you would be in contact at the highest level about the demolitions. What kind of response did you get?

MR. BOUCHER: Our Ambassador has been in touch with senior leaders in Israel and made quite clear our point of view on this matter. As for the response, I think we will just leave it to the Israelis to describe their response.

Q: The Israelis claim that they needed to go into Gaza, I guess early last night, in order to stop grenade attacks that were coming from this specific refugee camp. In terms of the information that is being shared, was the US aware in, at least that case, that there were a number of attacks coming from there? They say this is what they had to do, but is there an agreement at least that there were these attacks on Israeli bases that were coming from this particular camp?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we are all quite aware that the various places that attacks have come from, shooting has come from. Obviously, we are keeping in touch with both Israelis and Palestinians on the security situation. We also need to make clear that it's our view that the parties themselves need to address the sources of the violence and that they need to address the areas and instances where shooting is coming or violence is coming. And that is one of the reasons why we stress, again and again, the importance of the trilateral security cooperation, that it is just that kind of cooperation that can address the sources of violence, the areas where the violence is coming from and what to do about them.

Q: Well, if I could follow up, the trilateral security cooperation talks have been going on and off since April. Yet these kinds of attacks continue. The Israelis claim this has been absolutely what they need to do in order to maintain security. Are you -- and I kind of asked this yesterday -- are you saying, are you proposing alternatives at this point, and can you kind of get into them? What should the Israelis do?

MR. BOUCHER: The key part of your question is "on and off."

Q: Yes.

MR. BOUCHER: What is important is the parties both bear down, have these meetings, do these meetings, and do them properly, but also that the parties make their maximum effort. And I think we have made quite clear all along, especially in terms of what we have said about the kind of effort we are looking for from the Palestinian side, that we have not yet seen that kind of maximum effort. And it is important to stop the violence, it is important that the parties themselves bear down and stop the violence through their own efforts.

Q: Well, I mean, you are saying that they should make an effort to stop the violence, but this kind of -- would you call this demolition a provocative act? I mean, that certainly isn't a --

MR. BOUCHER: I already called it a highly provocative action.

Q: And you said you (inaudible) chances of realizing the Mitchell recommendations and so on. Does that --

MR. BOUCHER: In all their aspects.

Q: In all their aspects. Can we take it from that that he is going to stay there until that happens?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know exactly how long he will stay there. I don't think he has a precise date for return yet. But obviously he will be out there to do the job that he is expected to do, and then at some point he will return to Washington. I don't have a date yet for his return.

Q: Is there going to be a point where the Mitchell recommendations expire? I mean, last week you mentioned earlier in the week that the time is right now. Is there a point when it just -- it's no longer necessarily on the table from the US perspective?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have a date for that.

Q: Obviously.

MR. BOUCHER: But clearly, as the Secretary I think discussed on the airplane, if you look back at what he said on the way back from his trip in the Middle East, he made clear that these are the recommendations on the table, there is no Plan B. But at the same time, it is important that we do this. Otherwise, eventually this becomes just another piece of paper. Right now this is the path, this is the real path to getting the parties what they want, which is an end to the violence and a return to some security for people on both sides and a return to negotiations. And we think it is very important that they take that opportunity. We think it is very important they make a maximum effort to make this opportunity work.