Abbas suspends talks with Israel over Gaza offensive

GAZA-Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended peace negotiations with Israel on Sunday, demanding it end a Gaza offensive that has killed more than 100 Palestinians, many of them civilians.Israel said it was acting in self-defence in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to curb constant cross-border rocket attacks by militants and threatened to intensify its ground and air campaign despite allegations it was using excessive force.Abbas had ordered"the suspension of negotiations...until (Israeli) aggression is stopped", a senior aide to the Palestinian leader said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.But Abbas stopped short of declaring dead the U.S.-brokered statehood talks opposed by Hamas Islamists who seized control of the Gaza Strip from his Fatah movement in June.The United States later called for an end to the violence and a resumption of negotiations."The violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume,"White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his cabinet:"Israel is interested in negotiations but not at the price of giving up our right to protect Israeli citizens".U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to meet Abbas and Olmert this week.Washington has said it hoped Israeli-Palestinian talks can lead to a statehood deal before President George W. Bush leaves office in January.A 21-month-old Palestinian girl, two other civilians and three militants were killed in the latest fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the Palestinian death toll in five days of bloodshed to more than 100, including about 60 civilians, medical officials said.
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As in the days of Noah.....