September 24, 2007 (LPAC)--Responding to a question from EIR today, both Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni claimed that peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority would be viable in spite of the total exclusion of any representation from Gaza, which is still living under the threat of Israeli attacks. The two were speaking at the United Nations after a meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee formed, under the aegis of the Norwegian Foreign Minister, to provide aid to the Palestinians. "Gaza is always an integral part of our program," Fayyad said. "The process can proceed nevertheless. The present situation in Gaza should be no obstacle to beginning the process." Livni was somewhat more specific. "You have to distinguish between the dialog and implementation," she said, indicating that "implementation" would involve getting the population of Gaza to accept an agreement based on "dialog" solely between the PA and the Israelis. "The situation with Hamas is an unfortunate fact that we had to deal with," Livni said. She added that, of course, there should be no restrictions on humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Maybe they will drop care packages over Gaza together with the bombs!