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As Palestinian and Israeli leaders wrapped up a key four-way summit here Tuesday with a mutual declaration of ceasefire, analysts disagreed on whether the meeting would usher in real progress on the Middle East peace process after more than four years of bloodshed.
Some hailed Tuesday's meeting as a "success" that might lead to further cooperation between the Palestinians and Israelis, while others cautioned that both sides have much to do at the moment to shore up the fragile truce and essentially relaunch the long-stalled peace process.
"The summit marks a turning point in the Mideast peace process," said Terek Azziz, a Cairo-based Arab analyst.
"After all those years of bloodshed, now they finally have a chance of returning to the negotiating table and substitute fighting with talking," he added.
Palestinian and Israeli officials invariably struck an upbeat note as they spoke to reporters from around the world on the sidelines of the meeting.
"The summit gives us hope, anyway, for the resumption of peace talks," Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's top aide Raanan Gissin said.
"I believe there is today more willingness on the part of all participates...and I think that is why today there is a great opportunity," he said.
"To really move forward, we should not miss the opportunity," he stressed.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the four-way summit was the first step toward resuming full peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis.
"Today's summit marks a new beginning, and we hope it will lead to decisions on pushing forward the Mideast peace process under the roadmap peace plan," Erekat said.
But to be sure, there are many who are not fully convinced of peace hope and history seems to hold against optimism as numerous agreements fell through in the past.
The last "peace summit" which was later buried in surging violence was in June 2003.
At that time, US President George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas, then Palestinian prime minister, formally launched the roadmap peace plan which charted for the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.
The plan soon went astray amid violence and recrimination. "It is just a meeting and it is just a beginning," said Saber Rabie, a political professor at Cairo University.
"Those who try to depict a rosy picture should bear it in the mind that a ceasefire is only one of many tough issues the two sides should deal with, actually the least difficult one."
Even Erekat acknowledged that the two sides had different opinions on several major issues that would surely pop up in any negotiations for a comprehensive peace deal, including the status of East Jerusalem, the border issue, settlements and the refugees.
"We've got a really tough road ahead," said the official, "We can't pin too much hope on the summit."
Analysts said with a ceasefire declared to the world, both side shave a lot of concrete work to do to shore up the agreement. "It's really a fragile truce," said Rabie, "A single suicide bombing (from the Palestinian militants) or a military operation (from Israel) would stir another cycle of violence."
He said whether the ceasefire could last or not would be an earlier indicator for the long-term peace prospects ensued from this round of rapprochement between the two sides.
"Ultimately, the Palestinians want an independent state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank with East Jerusalem as its capital, a demand Israel is highly unlikely to satisfy in near future," said Saber.
His view was echoed by Azziz.
"You can't expect the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to be solved overnight," Azziz said, "Anyway, it has been a problem for more than half a century."
"But at least now they can sit down and talk to each other again and this is progress," he added.
Source: Xinhua
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