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Palestinian Official: 'Small Window' of Hope

Nabil Shaath
Julia Buckley, NPR
Nabil Shaath

A top Palestinian official says he's hopeful that a "small window" of opportunity exists for peace with Israel in the wake of this month's cease-fire agreement.

But Nabil Shaath, foreign minister for the Palestinian Authority, says Israel is moving too slowly on removing roadblocks, withdrawing Israeli forces from West Bank cities, and discussing which Palestinian prisoners should be released next.

"If people do not see the fruits of this agreement soon, they will allow provocateurs and others to incite us into, once again, disbelief that the Israelis are really serious in ending their occupation," Shaath tells NPR's Robert Siegel, who is reporting from the Middle East this week.

Editor's Note: On Feb. 24, 2005, Shaath became deputy prime minister and information minister as part of a new Palestinian Cabinet.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Prior to his retirement, Robert Siegel was the senior host of NPR's award-winning evening newsmagazine All Things Considered. With 40 years of experience working in radio news, Siegel hosted the country's most-listened-to, afternoon-drive-time news radio program and reported on stories and happenings all over the globe, and reported from a variety of locations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. He signed off in his final broadcast of All Things Considered on January 5, 2018.