Israeli and Palestinian comments on prospects of ceasefire

(23 Jan 2005) SHOTLIST Sderot 1. Various shots of Sderot, a southern border town that has been a frequent target of Palestinian rocket attacks 2. Sharon in meeting; pull back to wide 3. SOUNDBITE: (Hebrew) Ariel Sharon, Israeli Prime Minister: "After a long period of Palestinian terror and vigorous activity of the security forces against the terror, quiet has been instilled. We still don't know if there is a real change in the situation. We hope there is. We are following what is going on. One thing is for sure, that if the terror will be renewed, Israel will according to the Cabinet decision made will do all necessary to prevent attacks on Sderot and the communities in the western Negev and in the Gaza settlements." 4. Street in Sderot 5. Shot of Israel and Gaza border Jerusalem 6. Mark Regev, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, coming out of office 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mark Regev, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman: "We are following very closely the developments on the ground. There are some positive signs. Some of the organisations in the Gaza strip seem to be ready to a cease fire and there are signs to that affect. But at the same time we hear that some of the leaders of those organisations in Damascus are against the cease fire, and don't want Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) to succeed, so we follow it very closely." Jerusalem 8. Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Defence minister shaking hands with Bedouins 9. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Defence minister "The next step of course is the opening of dialogue with the Palestinians. Abu Mazen said that after he forms his government he will be ready to begin dialogue. I very much hope that this dialogue occurs. It's very important that the easing in the security situation continues. But not just this easing, but also dealing with the infrastructure of terror and the terror groups. " Gaza 10. Palestinians arriving at checkpoint 11. Various shots of sweets being handed to Palestinian policemen 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Sufyan Abu Zayda, Palestinian Minister for Prisoners' Affairs: "I think most of the Palestinian people, especially those who came here, support this decision and the Palestinian soldiers that came here in order to protect the Palestinian interests and to protect the Palestinian people. That is the mission of the forces here and we are here to say thank you for all to them." 13. Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman reading Gaza 14. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman. ++Not Verbatim++ "The things that Mofaz says, that we've reached a cease-fire, is not true. We're still studying the subject. The ball is now in the court of the occupation. they should stop all forms of aggression against our people." 15. Palestinian policemen in vehicles 16. Policemen checking vehicle 17. Policeman standing holding weapon STORYLINE There has been a state of confusion in Israel on Sunday after claims by Israeli Defence Minister, Shaul Mofaz, that Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed on Sunday to suspend attacks against Israel for a month. However both groups have denied that an agreement about a cease-fire has been reached. They say discussions with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) will continue. The Israeli military said they will suspend operations against Palestinian militants if they stop attacking Israelis. It is hoped this signals an improvement in relations between the opposing sides that could lead to peace after more than four years of fighting. But residents remain cautious, fearful the period of calm will again be shattered. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...