Division for Palestinian Rights
Chronological Review of Events Relating to the
Question of Palestine
Monthly media monitoring review
February 2004
1
Israeli troops in jeeps and a tank raided Jericho for the first time in months, killing one Palestinian and forcing many residents to stay inside at the start of the four-day Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha. The soldiers surrounded a house where an unknown number of militants were hiding, killing one militant in exchanges of fire and wounding two others, who were taken to a hospital. Said Shaadi Misem, 27, a wanted member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades hiding in Jericho, was shot and critically wounded during the firefight and died shortly afterwards. Palestinian officials identified the man killed on the spot as Shadi Jaradat, a Brigades' member from Jenin. Soldiers arrested four other people before pulling out of the town in the afternoon. PA Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erakat, a Jericho resident, said a total of seven people had been wounded and three houses had been demolished. (AFP, AP)
Israeli troops demolished three houses in the village of Silwad, just north of Ramallah, and arrested six wanted Palestinians in Hizmeh, just south of the city. (AFP, IMEMC)
Ha’aretz reported that the IDF had disbanded a military police unit because its soldiers abused and harassed Palestinians at the Qalandia roadblock between Jerusalem and Ramallah and confiscated items like compact disc players, cigarettes and food. There had been numerous complaints from Palestinians and human rights groups about abuses at the site. The unit had been set up especially to work at the roadblock, but it was a failure, the paper said. During interrogation, some of the soldiers admitted to the allegations, but it was not known whether they would face court martial or disciplinary action. Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, commander of the area, ordered the unit disbanded, with soldiers to be assigned to other units. A new police unit would be formed to be posted at the checkpoint. (AP, Ha’aretz)
The Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed hopes that an International Court of Justice hearing on the legal consequences of Israel's construction of a separation barrier might be dismissed after a number of countries protested that the Court did not have authority to rule on the issue. Ron Prosor, chief political adviser to Foreign Minister Shalom, told Israel Army Radiothat a total of 33 nations had formally expressed their objections: “These countries believe the issue of the security fence is a political issue which the court in The Hague is not supposed to debate.” (AFP, AP)
Defence Minister Mofaz warned that Israel’s recent policy of not striking militant leaders was likely to change in the light of statements made by Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, calling for attacks and the abduction of Israeli soldiers, Israel Army Radioreported. “The statements of Yassin just emphasize the need to strike the heads of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad,” Mr. Mofaz told the weekly meeting of the Israeli Cabinet, according to an Israeli official who attended the meeting. Mr. Mofaz was replying to MK Katz's inquiry concerning orders to stop assassination attempts against Sheik Yassin. (AFP, AP, IMEMC)
2
Four Palestinians were killed during a dawn raid by Israeli troops in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Witnesses said soldiers backed by tanks and helicopters had entered the Rafah refugee camp before dawn under cover of heavy machine gun fire that drew an immediate response from Palestinian gunmen. Yasser Abuleish, 26, a local leader of the Islamic Jihad, and his 38-year-old brother Hussein were killed when troops raided their house in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighbourhood, Palestinian security and hospital sources said. Dr Ali Mussa, head of Rafah hospital, said two other men had also been killed by heavy machine gun fire from a tank: Majdi al-Khatib, a 32-year-old civilian, and Baha Judah, 36, a gunman whose affiliation was not immediately clear. An IDF spokesman confirmed an operation had been launched to arrest wanted members of Islamic Jihad. “When the soldiers approached the house where one of the wanted men was located, Palestinians threw a grenade and opened fire,” he said, adding that one soldier had been slightly wounded during the operation. An angry crowd gathered at the Abu Yussef hospital mortuary where they picked up the four bodies and carried them on stretchers to the Al-Awda mosque and finally to Al-Shuhada cemetery. Addressing the crowd via loudspeaker, one of the militants claimed Mr. Khatib was a commander of the Al-Aqsa Martrys Brigades, but there was no official confirmation from the group, which was largely based in the West Bank. (AFP, www.idf.il)
Mohamed Mahmud Abu Awda, 28, a local leader of Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, was shot dead and four Israeli soldiers injured during a shootout in Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem. The army charged in a statement that Mr. Abu Awda had planned the suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus on 29 January that killed 11 passengers, apart from himself, and had in the past recruited several candidates for such attacks. Palestinian sources said a 20-year-old man was also slightly injured by Israeli gunfire during the operation, which ended after Israeli troops demolished Mr. Abu Awda’s house. (AFP, www.idf.il)
“I have given the order to plan for the evacuation of 17 settlements in the Gaza Strip,” Prime Minister Sharon told Ha’aretz. “I am working on the assumption that in the future there will be no Jews in Gaza.” “It is my intention to carry out an evacuation – sorry, a relocation – of settlements that cause us problems and of places that we will not hold onto anyway in a final settlement, like the Gaza settlements,” he said. In excerpts from the interview, Mr. Sharon said his plan “has to be done with American agreement and support.” “We are talking of a population of 7,500 people. It’s not a simple matter. We are talking of thousands of square km of hothouses, factories and packing plants,” he said, adding: “The first thing is to ask their agreement, to reach an agreement with the residents … it’s not a quick matter, especially if it’s done under fire.” Mr. Sharon also mentioned three “problematic settlements in Samaria, while Channel Two TV reported that he intended to remove about 10 of the 120 settlements in the West Bank. (IBA, Detsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), Ha’aretz, Reuters)
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said it was “encouraging that Israel is considering bold steps to reduce tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.” PA Minister Saeb Erakat told Reuter:“Usually when the Israeli Government speaks about evacuation of settlements, it aims only at public relations … If Israel wants to leave Gaza … no Palestinian will stand in its way.” Mr. Erakat said that settlement evacuation was essential to reach peace in the region: “Israel has to decide whether it wants peace or settlements because both of them cannot go together.” Palestinian Authority President Arafat's senior aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh said: “The aim of these declarations is to please public opinion. These Israeli proposals are just part [of what has to be done], they are not enough and will not lead to an effective result.” Yesha Council head Benzi Lieberman said the Prime Minister was “giving a prize to terrorism” and warned that if Mr. Sharon went on his upcoming trip to Washington with the plan, “he won’t have a government when he gets back.” Deputy Education Minister Zvi Hendel accused Mr. Sharon of making the statement to detract from police investigations into corruption and bribery scandals involving the Premier and his sons: “He has to change the agenda. He doesn’t believe a word of it.” Labour Party leader Shimon Peres said: “We have had our share of plans; planning is not implementing.” Yossi Sarid of the Meretz party told Israel Radio a reliable journalist had interviewed an unreliable Prime Minister. Another opposition MK, Ophir Pines-Paz, said Mr. Sharon’s plan was “one big bluff.” PA Labour Minister Ghassan Khatib stated Mr. Sharon intended to mislead world public opinion. (AFP, DPA, Reuters)
The Dahaf Institute carried out a telephone poll of a representative sample of 500 adult Israelis for Yediot Aharonoton Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to remove all Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. Fifty-nine per cent supported the move and 34 per cent opposed it. Asked if Mr. Sharon was taking the measure “mostly out of considerations of State or mainly to divert public attention from the investigations that he and his sons are facing,” 57 per cent said it was considerations of State, 24 per cent said it was investigations, with 11 per cent saying it was both. (IMRA)
Israeli sources said Prime Minister’s Bureau Director Dov Weissglas had briefed US Administration officials two weeks previously on the Prime Minister's unilateral evacuation plan. The US State Department spokesman said the US had not yet been formally informed of the Prime Minister’s plans regarding the Gaza Strip. The spokesman said the US' view was to look at the proposal in the context of the other statements and commitments the Israeli Government had made. (IBA, IMEMC)
The Israeli Government narrowly survived two motions of no confidence, presented by the Shas and Labour parties. Members of the National Religious Party, National Union and four Likud MKs walked out of the plenum and did not take part in the vote. The vote was 42 in favour of the Government and 41 against. (IBA, Reuters)
The United States is likely to reject an Israeli request to delay the release of the State Department’s annual human rights report – usually released at the end of February – until after an International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing on Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, US officials said. “They have asked for a delay but we have no plans to postpone it and I can’t see that changing,” a senior State Department official said. “They’re worried it could hurt their case,” a second US official said. The unnamed officials quoted by AFPconfirmed a report in Ha’aretzthat Washington had not yet formally responded to the request, adding that technically it was still “a possibility” but pointing to comments by State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, who told reporters: “The preparation of those reports is proceeding as normal and at this point we don’t anticipate any delay in its preparation. We expect to present it on time.” (AFP)
“The transfer from the phase of waiting for negotiations, which I believe will not happen, to the phase of getting ready to implement unilateral steps is approximately June, July,” Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israeli Public Radio. Mr. Olmert, insisting the Prime Minister was serious, rejected the sceptical reactions by Israeli opposition leaders and ultra-nationalist members of Mr. Sharon’s coalition: “Everyone who heard him [when he first announced his plan in a December speech] … knows that the Prime Minister is going for a great, decisive political manoeuvre of the utmost importance.” “I believe in June or July these things will begin being implemented,” Olmert told Channel Two TV. (AFP, DPA, Reuters)
EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten told reporters after meeting Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo in connection with their Geneva Accord Initiative: “We hope that these brave initiatives for peace will be reflected in what others do and will gain increasing support throughout the region.” He called the initiative “the only patch of blue” in the grey skies over the Middle East, and said more technical work was needed to see how the plan would be implemented, adding: “We’ll certainly consider those proposals in an open manner and within our existing budgetary rules and framework.” EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana also met with the plan’s authors, saying afterwards that the initiative was a welcome contribution to the Road Map: “The initiative is timely, it is important, and we would like to help as much as possible.” Messrs. Rabbo and Beilin also held talks with European Commission President Romano Prodi. They told reporters they were encouraged by the Commission’s support, adding that their plan was the “only possible solution” to end the Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed. (AFP, DPA)
3
The IDF demolished two houses in Rafah, wounding two Palestinians. (IMEMC)
Prime Minister Sharon’s spokesman Ra’anan Gissin said Israel was considering, within the framework of a future accord with a “Palestinian entity,” a handover of some Israeli Arab areas to Palestinian rule in exchange for settlements in the West Bank. PA Prime Minister Qureia, speaking on Kuwaiti television, called any such swap “undebatable and unacceptable.” Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli Arab MK, denounced that idea as a “racist project” aimed at ensuring a Jewish majority in Israel in the face of a higher Palestinian population growth. (AFP, IBA, Reuters)
Prime Minister Sharon told reporters that dismantling settlements was more painful to him personally than anyone else in the State of Israel. Mr. Sharon said dismantling the settlements would be necessary to allow for Israel’s development and optimum security. (IBA)
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia told Voice of Palestine radio of the Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to evacuate settlements in the Gaza Strip: “Of course, it is good news for us. We hope that Israel will withdraw from all Palestinian areas.” Calling for “deeds, not words,” Mr. Qureia said: “We need to see that they have left all of the Gaza Strip and that all of the Gaza Strip has become Palestinian liberated land.” He also said any Gaza pullout should be followed by a similar Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank: “Then, there will be a real peace. Otherwise, the situation will remain as is.” (Ha’aretz)
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected a request by Israel to stop one of its judges, Nabil Elaraby from Egypt, from examining with the Court the legality of the building by Israel of a separation barrier in the West Bank, saying in a statement: “The International Court of Justice decided, by 13 votes to 1, that certain matters brought to the attention of the Court by letters from the Government of Israel were not as such as to preclude Judge Nabil Elaraby from participating in the present case.” Israel contended that Judge Elaraby was biased in favour of the Palestinians as he had in the past “actively engaged in opposition to Israel including on matters which go directly to aspects of the question now before the Court.” In a separate statement, the Court said the UN Secretariat, 44 of its Member States, Palestine, the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference had filed written statements in the case. (AFP, AP, www.icj-cij.org)
Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations Nasser Al-Kidwa, in a press conference, accused Israel of violating the ICJ rules by commenting on written submissions, which the Court had said would remain confidential until oral arguments were to begin on 23 February, and also accused Israel of “straightforward lies” and “spinning the facts.” Referring to comments by Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN Dan Gillerman on 30 January, Mr. Al-Kidwa said that the UN submission had not been made public at the time of Mr. Gillerman’s press conference and Court rules required that such materials be treated confidentially. He further called on the UN to investigate whether documents had been leaked. Israeli Deputy Permanent Representative Arye Mekel dismissed the charge as “very strange,” saying that the UN dossier had been posted on the ICJ web site more than a week ago, and was available to all. Mr. Al-Kidwa insisted Mr. Gillerman had referred to material not on the web site. Mr. Mekel further said his Government had criticized the UN dossier because it hadn’t included “the main Israeli argument – that this fence was built because there was Palestinian terror.” Mr. Al-Kidwa countered that the transcripts of UN sessions where Israel had put forward its position were included. “I really don’t want to [be drawn] in,” the Secretary-General told reporters the next day, when asked about Mr. Gillerman’s criticism. “I think the whole thing is about the case of the wall which is before the ICJ. The defence should be made in The Hague, in the Court, not here in this building.” (AP, Reuters)
Israeli public television reported that Prime Minister Sharon had told his confidants that he would not hesitate to call elections in June or July 2004 if, lacking a majority backing in Knesset for the plan to evacuate Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, he was not able to carry it out. (AFP)
4
IDF troops operating near Rafah, along the border with Egypt, shot and seriously wounded a Palestinian who, army officials said, was armed and attempted to throw grenades at the soldiers. An earlier report stated that the man was killed. (Ha’aretz, The Jerusalem Post)
Several members of Likud suggested a referendum to allow Israeli voters to consider Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to evacuate Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, the Yediot Aharonot web site said. “A referendum is a good thing,” Mr. Sharon was quoted as telling reporters at the Knesset when asked about the idea. Israel Radio carried a similar report of Mr. Sharon’s willingness to hold a nationwide vote on the issue. The Prime Minister’s office had no immediate comment. (Reuters)
The opposition Labour Party said it would back Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to dismantle Israeli settlements in Gaza, assuring him of a parliamentary majority even if ultra-nationalists quit the coalition in protest. (AP)
Responding to questions from reporters upon arrival at UN headquarters in New York, the Secretary-General said: “I was quite intrigued by Prime Minister Sharon’s decision to pull out of Gaza. I think it is a positive development, and I hope the Quartet can work with him in implementing that decision. I see it as a first essential step. Withdrawal from Gaza which has been announced by the Prime Minister, if it does take place, can really give us a very important moment – a new dynamic that can propel the process forward. But of course that should be seen as a first step because there’s also the West Bank, which one will have to deal with. Withdrawal from the West Bank would also be required if you’re going to establish two States, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, and really fulfil the spirit of ‘land for peace’.” (AP, UN News Service)
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said after talks with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Tommy Lapid it was the right of a Government to take measures deemed necessary to protect its citizens. But Mr. Fischer stressed the walls and fences being built by Israel should run along the border of Israel and the Palestinian territories: “Our criticism is of the route taken.” (DPA)
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov told Interfaxthat the construction by Israel of a separation barrier hampered peace efforts in the region, and the ICJ hearings were unlikely to help: “We consider that [Israel’s] actions have received a proper political reaction at the UN General Assembly. There are strong doubts over whether the World Court could add anything new.” Mr. Fedotov said Russia’s position had been outlined in a written statement by the Court. (Reuters)
The Geneva Accord Initiative authors were proposing that the upcoming summit of the Arab League, scheduled to take place in Tunisia in March 2004, announce acceptance of the accord as the basis for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and the relevant UN documents as the basis for a peace agreement between Israel and Syria as well as Lebanon. (Ha’aretz)
A Palestinian man was critically injured during an Israeli army operation in Bethlehem. The man, who was taken to the hospital, was among several arrested by the troops. (Ha’aretz)
A meeting between Prime Minister Sharon’s Bureau Chief Dov Weissglas and his Palestinian counterpart Hassan Abu Libdeh, the fifth such attempt to arrange a meeting between the two Prime Ministers, ended after two hours without agreement. A statement from Prime Minister Qureia’s office said they had “agreed to have another meeting as soon as possible in the future to resolve the differences over the issues which will be discussed in the meeting between the two Prime Ministers.” A statement from Mr. Sharon’s office said during the meeting that “all the subjects concerning the application of the Road Map were discussed in view of a meeting in the future between both Prime Ministers.” Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erakat said the meeting had been comprehensive, touching on all issues relating to the Road Map as well as a “working schedule for a Qureia-Sharon meeting.” He added that the Palestinians had called for lifting the siege on Palestinian Authority President Arafat as well as releasing prisoners and halting construction of the separation barrier. “The Israeli side asked about security issues and we agreed to have another meeting in a week,” he said. (AFP)
At a press conference at the UN Office at Geneva, Swiss academic Alexis Keller, who supported the negotiators of the Geneva Accord Initiative, said he would try to mobilize the US Jewish community to rally round the plan ahead of the November presidential elections. “I do believe that without any support from the Jewish community of the United States, we will not succeed,” Mr. Keller said. He added that in addition to political support he was also seeking financial backing to help implement the initiative. According to him, six countries, which he refused to name, had already pledged support. Switzerland had contributed US$3.2 million. The architects of the plan said they needed $12 million for the coming two to three years. Mr. Keller was due to arrive in the US during the week to teach at Harvard University for six months. (AFP)
5
Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops, while a third one was reportedly shot dead accidentally by his comrades in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. One youth was shot dead by troops near the settlement of “Netzarim” and a PFLP member was killed after throwing a grenade at troops in Rafah. (DPA, Ha’aretz)
Israeli troops detained a total of 30 Palestinians, including 30 members of Hamas, in a series of operations in the West Bank. Thirteen of the Hamas members were detained during a brief IDF incursion into Bethlehem. Seven other Hamas followers and eight wanted Palestinians were arrested in the Hebron region. Two others, who were not members of Hamas, were arrested in villages near Bethlehem and Ramallah. (AFP)
The British Parliament’s Select Committee on International Development issued its second report, entitled “Development Assistance and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” In its report, the House of Commons Committee urged the UK Government and the EU to consider “economic pressure on Israel to ease movement restrictions which are crippling the Palestinian economy and causing soaring poverty.” In the conclusions and recommendations, the authors of the report said, among other things, that “it is hard to avoid the conclusion that there is a deliberate Israeli strategy of putting the lives of ordinary Palestinians under stress as part of a strategy to bring the population to heel.” The report also included the proceedings of the Committee. (Reuters, www.publications.parliament.uk)
An Israeli soldier was wounded in Burqa village during an arrest operation in the Jenin area. Shortly after the incident, around 30 Israeli jeeps, tanks and armoured personnel carriers moved into the village and surrounded a number of houses, provoking exchanges of fire with Palestinians. (AFP)
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert presented Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to evacuate Gaza Strip settlements to US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington. Mr. Olmert said that in any event, “Israel will not remain in Gaza,” and that it would be willing to consider changing the route of the separation barrier if Palestinian leaders moved to end attacks on Israelis. Mr. Olmert also said the “disengagement plan” would not come in place of a peace deal that would include the establishment of a Palestinian State. “We see this as part of the implementation of the understanding acceptable to both us and the Americans. We see it as a station along the way that will continue until we reach … a final settlement,” he told Israel Radio. Mr. Olmert also met with United States Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said Israel should not try to end the conflict against the Palestinians unilaterally, without negotiations. Two US envoys, William Burns and Elliot Abrams, were expected to arrive in Israel in the coming weeks to discuss the evacuation plan. (AFP, AP, Ha’aretz, Middle East Online)
Prime Minister Sharon was working on securing US approval to expand large West Bank settlement blocks in return for evacuating Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and some in the West Bank. Mr. Sharon was expected to justify the request with a need to move settlers from the evacuated areas to the settlement blocks of “Ariel,” “Ma’aleh Adumim” and “Gush Etzion.” He was to present the request to President Bush during an upcoming visit to Washington. The plan’s details were being worked out by a newly formed team of advisers headed by army reserve Major-General Giora Eiland and should be finalized in April. (DPA, Middle East Online)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher welcomed the plan to evacuate all the Gaza Strip settlements and said the plan should be coupled with a withdrawal from the West Bank settlements. Mr. Maher told reporters that Prime Minister Sharon’s plans could mean a return to the “Gaza First” concept, the idea of Israeli withdrawal initially from the Gaza Strip and later from parts of the West Bank. “It must not be Gaza only – that is, such a withdrawal must be followed or accompanied by other moves which are required and well known, according to the Road Map,” he said. (Ha’aretz, Reuters)
6
Thousands of Palestinians joined a funeral of Hamas leader Abdul Nasser Abu Shoqa, 37, killed by an unexplained explosion at his home in the Al-Bureji refugee camp. Hamas accused Israel of the killing, while Israeli military spokesperson denied that any Israeli soldiers had been in the region at the time of the blast the day before. (Middle East Online)
Israel was considering to moving settlers from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank as part of Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to evacuate Gaza settlements, according to an Israeli official. PA Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erakat condemned such an approach. Other officials said the Government was also examining the possibility of moving Gaza settlers to Israel and paying them compensation. “Settlements in the West Bank are an obstacle to peace as much as the ones in the Gaza Strip. They all must go,” Mr. Erakat told Reuters. “The mere suggestion of a trade-off between settlements in Gaza and the West Bank should be rejected by the Americans.” Defence Minister Mofaz announced his support for the evacuation, which he said would enhance Israel’s security and economy. Some 300 protesters from the settlement of “Gush Katif” in the Gaza Strip demonstrated at Mr. Sharon's ranch in the Negev. The Yesha Council held an emergency meeting to discuss its response to Mr. Sharon’s plan. (BBC, Ha’aretz, Reuters)
Speaking to the press at UN Headquarters, the Secretary-General said he had spoken by phone with Prime Minister Sharon on developments in the Middle East and his disengagement plan, indicating “if the Quartet can help with the implementation [of the plan], we will be happy to do that,” and suggesting a meeting with Mr. Sharon during his forthcoming visit to the US. Mr. Annan also said that “if Israel were to decide to withdraw from Gaza, as a necessary first step, … one will also have to consider when the next steps on the West Bank are going to be taken, because the 'land for peace' is not just Gaza, it also embraces the West Bank.” He added that the plan “does not exclude negotiations because the parties have to sit and negotiate and come to an agreed settlement, and this is why the Quartet has put forward a Road Map.” (UN News Centre)
A poll published in Ma’ariv showed 52 per cent of Israelis supported an evacuation of all settlements in the Gaza Strip, while 36 per cent opposed such a move. It also found 58 per cent for the evacuation of isolated settlements in the West Bank and 31 per cent against. The poll also said that after the announcement of his evacuation plan, Mr. Sharon’s approval ratings had risen 39 per cent from 33 per cent the previous week. The survey of 603 Israelis had a margin of error of 4 per cent. (AP, DPA)
Journalist Amnon Kapeliouk published a biography of Palestinian Authority President Arafat that chronicled his political career. The 523-page book in English, entitled “Arafat the Maverick,” was based on more than 200 conversations Mr. Kapeliouk had had with Mr. Arafat over the past 20 years. Mr. Kapeliouk maintained Mr. Arafat had sought to establish a dialogue with Israel as early as 1973 and, rejecting the view that he was responsible for the failure of the Camp David negotiations in 2000, pointed out that the then Prime Minister Barak had offered no concessions on the key issues of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestine refugees. (AFP)
7
An Israeli air strike at a car in Gaza City killed Aziz Shami, 37, and 12-year-old Tarek Sousi. Ten Palestinians, including two other militants in Mr. Shami’s car, were wounded, three of them critically. The attack was the first targeted killing in six weeks. The Islamic Jihad said Mr. Shami was the leader of the group’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, in Gaza City, and served as a bodyguard of Islamic Jihad leader Abdullah Shami, a cousin. The boy killed in the attack had been on his way to school. Israeli Government spokesman Avi Pazner said Mr. Shami had been targeted as a “ticking bomb” because he was plotting an attack on the “Netzarim” settlement. He also said Mr. Shami had been behind a 1995 double suicide bombing near Netanya that had killed 21 Israelis, all but one of them soldiers, and an infiltration into a Gaza Strip military base in October 2003, in which three soldiers were killed. Abdullah Shami, who was not in the car, said: “Your blood will not flow without a price being paid. Our answer will be in Tel Aviv.” Up to 3,000 flag-waving mourners marched through the centre of the city or attended the funeral service in the central mosque. (AFP, AP, Reuters)
A Palestinian military court charged four suspects with planting explosives along a main road in the Gaza Strip. Explosives had killed three American security guards on 15 October 2003 and destroyed their diplomatic vehicle. Prosecutor Jamal Shamiyye said the defendants admitted that they had planted explosives on the road where the US convoy was bombed, but that they were targeting Israeli tanks. The prosecutor seemed to suggest the convoy was not the intended target. Palestinian and US investigators had found evidence indicating the bomb was detonated by someone watching from a hiding place as the clearly marked convoy passed. A wire found on the road after the blast was attached to a remote control device in a nearby shack. (AP)
Israeli officials said one option considered by the Government was moving the Gaza settlers to the West Bank, and another was moving the settlers back into Israel and paying them compensation. “Evacuating the settlements, if the step is taken without a view to linking it to other issues, is an acceptable and demanded step, but what is important is the execution,” Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa was quoted by the Middle East News Agency. “We do not praise anyone for words and we do not consider that words will set in motion anything related to the frozen peace process now.” Mr. Moussa also said that suggestions that the settlers in Gaza might be moved to the West Bank meant the “result will be zero” and such suggestions could not be welcomed. (Reuters)
Nearly 3,000 Palestinians and Israelis protested against the Israeli separation barrier in Abu Dis near East Jerusalem. At the foot of the 8-metre-high cement slabs in Abu Dis, a string of speakers climbed onto the roof of a car to denounce the project. The protest was jointly organized by Gush Shalom and Tayush. Arab Israeli MKs, members of Israeli left-wing parties, PLC members, local residents and religious figures representing various faiths participated in the protest. Ha’aretz said no violent incidents or clashes with police were recorded during the protest. (AFP, Xinhua)
8
Ashraf Abu Libdeh, a PFLP member, died of multiple gunshot wounds after Israeli troops backed by helicopters had raided the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip and surrounded his house. Up to 21 other Palestinians, including four children and two women, were wounded in exchanges of fire, sources at Rafah hospital told AFP. The IDF said the man had tried to escape from a window in the building he was hiding in, and troops had shot and killed him. Israeli military sources also said the soldiers had been forced to open fire after explosive devices were thrown at them during an operation to destroy tunnels used to smuggle arms under the border with Egypt, and that one Palestinian had been shot as he tried to plant a bomb near them. (AFP, AP)
Khalil Bawadi, 22 (23, according to AP),was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at a crossing point on the road leading to the “Netzarim” settlement. Hamas issued a statement saying Mr. Bawadi had been killed trying to set off an explosive charge against an Israeli military jeep. The group said the gunman had also exchanged fire with the Israeli troops. The IDF confirmed the attack on its soldiers but said they had not fired any shots. In a separate incident in a village near “Netzarim,” Rami Salah, 17, died of wounds sustained in a shooting incident late at night on 7 February night. Palestinian security sources said he had been shot in the leg by soldiers and eventually bled to death when the IDF refused to let an ambulance through to pick him up. The army said he was shot when he tried to infiltrate into Israel and Palestinian officials refused an offer by the military to send a team to evacuate him. In the West Bank, Palestinians said Ahmed Mahadi, 26, a member the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, had been killed in a shootout with Israeli soldiers near Jenin. The military had no immediate comment. Israel Radiosaid Mr. Mahadi had been firing at an Israeli settlement and was killed by return fire from soldiers. (AP, Palestine Media Centre, Reuters)
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for firing two rockets against Israeli settlements near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Brigades said in a leaflet the rockets had targeted “the Zionist military bases that are stationed at the ‘Gadid’ and ‘Neve Dekalim’ Jewish settlements.” The Brigades pledged to carry out similar attacks until the Israeli occupation was ousted from the Palestinian lands, saying rocket attacks had been proven to cause damage among the Israeli troops. An Israel Radioreport confirmed the attack, but quoted an IDF spokesman as saying no injuries or damage had been caused among the Israeli troops, who responded to the attack by shelling the neighbouring areas. (Xinhua)
The IDF had handed out confiscation notices to a number of Palestinians whose lands were located near the “Kfar Darom” settlement in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said. The army had also forbidden the Palestinians from accessing their lands located neat the settlement. The notices had reportedly been distributed by the IDF the day before and showed the army intended to confiscate 200 dunums (18.79 hectares) of Palestinian land used to grow vegetables and fruit, the sole income source of their owners. (Xinhua)
Zalman Shoval, adviser to Prime Minister Sharon, said Israel would change the route of its separation barrier to cause less hardship for the Palestinians and gain US support against legal challenges. He said Israel was concerned the dispute could eventually reach the UN Security Council, and the US could help protect Israel there: “We want as much as possible to draw a line with the Americans.” Mr. Shoval said the changes would be presented to US envoys expected to arrive later in the week. Paul Patin, spokesman for the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, declined to comment on the possible changes in the barrier’s route, saying the US had no problem with the concept of a security barrier, but objected to its planned route because of the disruption it caused to Palestinians. Mr. Shoval said Israel wanted to “make things as easy as possible for Palestinians who need to get to their fields [and] to have fewer checkpoints.” He said the changes would be mostly, but not only, around Qalqilya. He said this could include taking down or moving concrete barriers that had already been built. PA Minister of Local Government Jamal Shobaki said the PA would oppose the barrier if it infringed “even one centimetre” on the Occupied Palestinian Territory land Palestinians required for a future State, saying: “If they want to build a wall, they must do it on the Green Line.” Mr. Shoval said in some areas, Israel would move the barrier closer to the Green Line, but insisted: “The starting point is not necessarily the Green Line. The starting point is really how to get the best security … and how to avoid making life difficult for those 50,000 Palestinians who find themselves … on the wrong side of the fence.” Ha’aretz earlier quoted Mr. Sharon’s Bureau Chief Dov Weissglas as saying he believed the final route would be 600 km long, 100 km shorter than the original approved by the Government. Mr. Shoval would not confirm the report, but said the new route would certainly make the barrier shorter. According to a Reuterssource, the new draft route excluded most West Bank settlement blocks. The (AP, Reuters)
Israel's Labour Party Chairman Shimon Peres recommended a series of incentives to encourage Israel and the Palestinians to reach an agreement, The Jerusalem Post reported. During the Socialist International Congress in Madrid, Mr. Peres met with European, Palestinian, Egyptian, and Jordanian officials, as well as with representatives from Iraq and other countries, with which Israel did not have diplomatic relations. At a brief news conference in Toledo with Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio and PA Minister for Negotations Affairs Saeb Erakat, Mr. Peres said: “Once the two parties reach an agreement for peace, each will be admitted to the European Union, and the European Union will serve as a common ground for economic and social life.” Asked whether the proposal really was for membership in the EU, he replied, “There are variations how to do it. And anyway, the European Union already have put their legs in the Mediterranean by admitting Cyprus and Malta. So they’re no longer innocent. They’re Mediterranean.” Ms. Palacio said “an association of Palestine and Israel” with the EU at “the conclusion of this peace process” was an idea worthy of consideration. “We need to discuss it in the European Union and see how we can integrate it into the peace process,” she added. “So, my commitment is to discuss it, to put it before European” institutions. The incentives reportedly also included establishing a new Middle Eastern anti-terrorism covenant, adding Middle Eastern nations to NATO’s Partnership for Peace, and the US guaranteeing a border between Israel and the Palestinians to prevent future territorial disputes. (AP, Xinhua)
An annual security conference attended by almost 300 security leaders, including 46 defence and foreign ministers, took place on 7 and 8 February in Munich, Germany. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer opened the meeting by urging a unified initiative for the Middle East. His plea came in response to a US call for such an initiative for the greater Middle East, although Washington had so far given no details of its plan. “In early summer this year, the G8, European Union and NATO summits in rapid succession offer the opportunity to truly launch such a project,” Mr. Fischer said, with the EU and the US pooling resources “to form a new transatlantic initiative for the Middle East.” British Defence Minister Geoffrey Hoon said Britain welcomed Mr. Fischer’s ideas. The two-stage initiative would first merge NATO's and the EU’s existing efforts in the Mediterranean in an “EU/NATO Mediterranean process,” which would include the Maghreb States as well as Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and Libya, and would seek cooperation in four fields – security, economy, law and culture and civil society. Mr. Fischer said the countries involved would together tackle security issues, including efforts to control arms, while Europe offered Mediterranean countries economic partnership: “Why should we not vigorously pursue the ambitious goal of creating a free trade area together by 2010 to embrace the entire Mediterranean area?” In the second stage, the group would sign a “declaration on a common future,” together with other members of the Arab League and possibly also Iran. The signatories, Fischer said, would commit themselves to peace and security, support the integration of their economies and the promotion of human rights and recognize that both men and women had equal access to education. Fischer said the initiative should neither ignore, nor be blocked by, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and urged Western allies to offer a partnership with Middle Eastern countries by the NATO summit at the end of June. (DPA, Xinhua)
In a keynote speech at the Munich conference, King Abdullah II of Jordan called for a stronger commitment by the US and the EU to the Middle East peace process. “Some pressure from outside is necessary,” said King Abdullah, noting that the solution lay in a “two-nation” model with an independent Palestinian State and a peaceful Israel with the 4 June 1967 boundaries: “That is the inevitable way to achieve peace in the region.” King Abdullah insisted resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict had to be top priority, and leaving the Israelis and Palestinians to their own devices would not work: “We need some heavy-handedness.” (DPA, Xinhua)
Major-General Giora Eiland, Head of Prime Minister Sharon’s National Security Council, speaking at the Munich conference, said Israel had failed to forecast how much the separation barrier would disrupt Palestinians’ daily lives and must rectify the situation “including, where necessary, changing the original path of the fence.” (AP, DPA)
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Secretary-General of the Arab League Amre Moussa said the Arab League planned to argue at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel was violating the Geneva Conventions by building a barrier in the West Bank. The Court’s opinion “will be broadcast and known to everybody,” Mr. Moussa said from his office in downtown Cairo. He said successive Israeli Governments had refused to apply the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “I believe the ICJ will uphold the law and not succumb to any pressure. I’m sure of that,” he said. Responding to an Israeli promise earlier in the day to alter the route of the barrier to lessen hardships for Palestinians and gain the support of the United States, Mr. Moussa said: “What is before the ICJ is not the length of the wall, it is the wall itself.” He rejected Israeli claims that taking the case before the ICJ would damage the peace process: “This is a laughable argument. There is no process to speak of. Show me where an effective peace process is.” (AP)
Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip said they were preparing to move 500 families to the area in an effort to thwart Prime Minister Sharon's plan to evacuate most settlements there. The families would begin moving in the coming weeks to the tiny coastal settlement of “Shirat Hayam” and to youth hostels in existing settlements, said Eyal Sternberg, a spokesman for the Gaza settlers. Twenty families had recently received tenders to build houses in the “Neve Dekalim” settlement, Mr. Sternberg said. Hundreds of Israelis had participated the day before in a ceremony to plant 3,000 trees in the “Gush Katif” settlement block to demonstrate their opposition to Prime Minister Sharon’s plan. (AP)
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said the Palestinian Authority was considering declaring an independent State that would include the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. “This is one of the options that are being studied in response to [Prime Minister] Sharon’s unilateral plan and to try to foil it,” said Mr. Abed Rabbo, adding he had put forward the suggestion at a meeting of the committee over the weekend. He said Palestinian Authority President Arafat had been there, but had made no comment on the idea. Other participants said the proposal had only been raised informally. An aide to Prime Minister Sharon, Zalman Shoval, said Israel could react by annexing land if the Palestinians declared a State unilaterally. (AP, Reuters)
Israel's High Court of Justice heard petitions against the West Bank separation barrier from two Israeli human rights groups, who argued that any construction on occupied land was illegal and that the barrier violated human rights by disrupting the lives of thousands of Palestinians. Avigdor Feldman, lead lawyer for HaMoked, the Centre for the Defence of the Individual, said after the hearing that the Centre had asked the Court to order that the barrier be rerouted along the Green Line. The Court also heard a petition from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), demanding the army drop its demand that Palestinians "trapped" by the fence apply for permits to cross it. The Association said thousands of Palestinians were caught in a no man’s land and some had been declared illegal residents in their own homes. “There’s no doubting that Israel has the right to defend itself and build a barrier between the occupied territories to stop suicide bombers coming into Israel, but it is another thing to build it inside the occupied territories,” ACRI lawyer Avner Pinchuk, told AFP. State Attorney Michael Blass told the Court that the barrier’s route was still not complete and that every effort would be made to help Palestinians cut off by the barrier: “We are learning lessons, the whole thing is dynamic. We have to help them, solutions will have to be found.” “The fence route will probably be moved, and a change of policy… is being considered in order to ease as much as possible the lives of the Palestinians living in it,” Mr. Blass said at the hearing. Earlier, he had told Ha’aretz that the State Attorney’s Office was examining moving the wall westward towards the Green Line. High Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak, who presided over the hearing, said the three-judge panel would issue a ruling “as soon as possible,” probably before the 23 February hearing by the ICJ. He also said he was considering sending the matter to a larger panel, a step usually taken for the Court’s most serious cases. (AFP, AP, DPA)
Ma’ariv reported Israeli public relations’ experts had called for parts of the concrete wall forming the separation barrier to be painted in “happier colours.” “If the wall is painted, it would be more aesthetic and the public relations damage would be reduced,” the daily quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying. “Obviously we are taking into consideration the aesthetic and other aspects of the fence and that [painting] is one of the ideas,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled told AFP. “The fence is a last resort measure that is problematic in PR terms and aesthetic terms.” (AFP, DPA)
The US would not oppose the evacuation of Gaza Strip settlements, but would not allow Israel to expand West Bank settlements concurrently, Ha’aretz reported. US officials cited by the newspaper said the US Administration was not prepared to give up on the Road Map and to replace it with Mr. Sharon’s unilateral plan, and expected it to be complementary to the Road Map. One Israeli source was quoted as saying that Mr. Sharon might suggest initially evacuating isolated settlements and leaving the evacuation of “Gush Katif” for a later phase, depending on what Israel received in return from the US. Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and National Security Council senior director Elliott Abrams as well as Assistant Secretary of State William Burns wanted to hear details in the disengagement plan so that the US administration could prepare its final position on the plan, according to the report. Prime Minister’s Bureau Chief Dov Weissglas would then travel to Washington for further talks ahead of Mr. Sharon’s meeting with President Bush. Under the planned timetable, the main points of the plan would be agreed upon before the meeting of the two leaders, who would then iron out any necessary details. (Reuters, Xinhua)
Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio and her PA counterpart Nabil Sha’ath signed a cooperation agreement providing the PA with €33 million (US$41 million) of aid until 2006. Spanish sources said the aid would be used for health, education, nutritional security, institution-building and emergency aid. (DPA)
Speaking at a news conference after meeting with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in Dublin, PA Prime Minister Qureia said he wanted the four co-sponsors of the Road Map to meet “as soon as possible.” “It is time for the Quartet to move,” he said, referring to the separation barrier Israel wass building through the West Bank and Gaza, and called for the Quartet to make a “very strong intervention, very serious action and immediate to stop it.” Asked about Israeli statements that the route of the barrier could be changed, Mr. Qureia said there was no question of negotiating the route. Israel had a right to build a wall, he said, but “not one single inch on our territory.” The Irish Prime Minister, whose country currently held the EU Presidency, said he was also favourable to a meeting of the Quartet at the foreign minister level. Mr. Ahern said Mr. Qureia had pledged “the Palestinian leadership would shortly make an unequivocal statement reaffirming their stated position on Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and calling for an immediate end to violence.” (AFP)
The Palestinian Centre for Public Opinion, an independent Palestinian research organization based in the West Bank, found that 35 per cent of Palestinians supported continuing the intifada, down from 43 per cent in November 2003 and 73 per cent in November 2000. According to the poll, 40 per cent said they favoured ending the violence, while 25 per cent refused to answer or said they did not know. Nabil Kukali, chairman of the Centre, said the survey indicated Palestinians were confused after three years of the intifada and violence. He cited the continuing hardships that Palestinians faced: “The really bad economic situation and the closures all affect the poll.” Support for continuing suicide bombings had fallen to 31 per cent, from a high of 55 per cent in September 2003, while 35 per cent of respondents called for a halt in suicide bombings. The poll surveyed 500 Palestinian adults and had a margin of error of 4 per cent. (AP)
Ahmed Al-Mahdi, 23, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, was fatally wounded in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops in Jenin. He was transferred to the hospital where his death was confirmed. A Palestinian passer-by was wounded in the leg. Israeli military sources said soldiers had opened fire at a group of some four Palestinians who shot and wounded an Israeli civilian working on a road project in the area. At least one Palestinian had been hit, they added. (AFP)
The IDF demolished the houses of Ibrahim Baraghith and Amal Kawazbah in Beit Hanina. (Palestine Media Centre)
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A Palestinian family from Silwan in East Jerusalem complained to an Israeli court they had been forced out of two of their apartments by armed Israeli settlers posing as law enforcement officers. The settlers took over 16 apartments in Silwan, across the street from the Old City wall, joining 26 other Jewish families who had moved into the village several years before. Amir Hassan, a lawyer representing the Aljouni family, said the court was to rule later in the month on the the family's request to return the property. In similar cases, Israeli courts had usually upheld the right of the settlers to remain in the Silwan buildings. Doron Spielman, a spokesman for Elad, which sponsored the settlers, said they had purchased the Aljouni apartments and charged that the Palestinians were just trying to divert attention from the fact they had sold their property to Jews. Mr. Spielman said the settlers had the backing of the Government and the Jerusalem police knew they were moving in. “We moved in the middle of the night. They [the Palestinians] woke up in the morning and realized they had Jewish neighbours,” he said. “This is the best way to de-escalate the situation.” Elad planned to keep buying houses as fast as they could, Mr. Spielman said. “We have a waiting list,” he said. (AP, IMEMC)
Israeli soldiers arrested six fishermen in Al-Sudaniya, in the north-western Gaza Strip, and confiscated the fishing permits of five others in the same boat. (IMEMC)
King Abdullah II of Jordan met in Amman with Shimon Peres, the leader of Israel’s opposition Labour Party. According to an official statement released after the meeting, the King told Mr. Peres: “There is no chance for restoring stability and security in the region without reaching a just peace that requires Israel’s withdrawal from Palestinian areas and the setting up of an independent Palestinian State which lives in peace alongside Israel.” (DPA, Petra)
Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Maj.-Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, speaking before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, said a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would be seen as surrender to terrorism and might “motivate further terrorism” in the West Bank. However, he questioned whether militants, who he said were already making a maximum effort to strike against Israelis, would be able to step up attacks after a Gaza pullout. Moreover, he said once the withdrawal was completed, the terrorist attacks could actually decrease, as the PA would likely come under intense international pressure to rein in militants. Committee Chairman MK Yuval Steinitz said he supported a unilateral withdrawal on condition that it was accompanied by an uncompromising offensive on terrorism, eliminating the terror groups’ leaders and other measures. Foreign Minister Shalom repeated his opposition to any unilateral withdrawal from the Occupied Palestinian Territory. (Ha’aretz, IBA, Ma’ariv, Reuters)
Eighteen members of the French National Assembly set up a special parliamentary committee for peace initiatives in the Middle East as part of their support for the Geneva Accord Initiative, saying: “We strongly believe that the Geneva Accord does not contradict the Road Map.” (Palestine Media Centre)
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At least 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, 12 of them in an intensive gun battle in Gaza City’s Al-Sheja’eya neighbourhood. Fierce clashes broke out early in the morning after Israeli tanks moved into the area. According to Albawaba, the incident started after Israeli soldiers surrounded the house of Hamas activist Ashraf Hassanin and called on him to surrender, but an exchange of fire erupted between the troops and Hamas members. Mr. Hassanin, 23, died in the firefight. Also killed were Mohammed Hills, 18, son of Ahmed Hills, a Fatah leader, and Hamas activist Hani Abu Sakhalin. Medics at Al-Shaifa Hospital said at least 60 Palestinians had been wounded, nine of whom were in serious condition. The wounded included at least three boys who had been hit as they watched the battle from side streets. The Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, vowed to retaliate soon. Three Palestinians were shot dead in a raid on the Rafah refugee camp to the south. Israeli forces, including more than 10 tanks and several armoured bulldozers, moved into the Rafah refugee camp. The military said soldiers had been looking for tunnels used to smuggle weapons. (Albawaba.com., BBC, Ma’ariv, Middle East Online, MSNBC, Reuters)
IDF troops arrested a Fatah activist from Nablus who they said was on the way to carry out a bombing in Israel. (Ha’aretz)
Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel was considering holding on to the “Gush Katif” settlement after the evacuation of the settlers in the Gaza Strip as a “bargaining chip” in future negotiations with the Palestinians. He also believed Israel had made a mistake in 1994 – with the start of the "Gaza and Jericho First" aspect of Oslo – by leaving settlements like “Netzarim,” “Kfar Darom,” and “Morag” surrounded by more than a million Palestinians. Those settlements should be moved in to “Gush Katif” for ideological as well as security reasons. He also said that in the absence of Israeli civilians in the area, the IDF would enjoy more freedom of movement, and if necessary, the army would enter the Gaza Strip, as it had done now. (Ha’aretz)
Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told PA Prime Minister Qureia he would call on Israel to reconsider building the separation project in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Addressing reporters after a meeting in Rome, Mr. Frattini said, “We will talk with Israel and recommend a total rethink of this project.” Mr. Qureia, who was touring European capitals, thanked Italy for its opposition to the wall, saying that “being against the wall means being for peace.” He also said bilateral talks between Palestinians and Israelis was “the only path to peace.” Mr. Qureia called the raid carried out earlier in the day a "crime," saying it would “badly affect” talks due to be held on Sunday to prepare for his first meeting with Prime Minister Sharon. A preparatory meeting had been planned for 15 February on a possible summit by the end of the month or early March. Mr. Qureia also met with Italy's Prime Minister Berlusconi and President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. He was scheduled to meet with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on 12 February before travelling to Brussels, Berlin and Paris. (AFP, DPA, Reuters)
In a statement Irish Minister for Europe Dick Roche said at the European Parliament “there can be no doubt that the construction by Israel of a separation barrier which extends deep into the Palestinian Territories is a major obstacle to progress in the peace process.” He also said the decision of the EU to abstain in the vote on the UN resolution had been based on the conviction of many Member States that transferring the matter of the wall to a legal forum would do nothing to advance the political process necessary for peace. Abstention did not in any way suggest the European Union’s position that the wall was in contravention of international law had changed.” (www.eu2004.ie)
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, on an official visit in New Delhi, said Israel might decide not to send a representative to the ICJ hearings on the separation barrier. “In any case,” he said, “a decision will be made in the coming days.” Minister of Industry and Trade Ehud Olmert, visiting Poland, had said that for the moment Israel had no intention of participating in the ICJ hearings on 23 February. The week before, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz had reportedly said in a closed Cabinet meeting he opposed sending a representative to the ICJ. (DPA, Ma’ariv)
Russia and Jordan urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority against taking any unilateral measures which would block the implementation of the Road Map. “Any steps taken in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be based exclusively on the Road Map,” Jordan's Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher told reporters after meeting with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Moscow. “Efforts today should be concentrated on the strict and scrupulous application of the Road Map to achieve an end to the occupation and establishment of a Palestinian State based on 1967 borders as defined in the document,” he added. Mr. Ivanov said Moscow shared “the same view,” adding that Israel for its part should not press ahead with a barrier it was building in the West Bank. “Russia is opposed to the construction of the barrier. We are against unilateral acts which could further complicate the settlement of the conflict and we insist that both parties respect their obligations under the Road Map.” (AFP, Jordan News Agency,)
Israeli MK Shimon Peres (Labour) proposed that Israel, Jordan and the future State of Palestine join the European Union. “I see the idea of a new Middle East coming back to life,” Mr. Peres told correspondents in Jerusalem. He noted Europe and the US could encourage the two sides in the Middle East conflict to achieve peace. He also said Europe should provide Israelis and Palestinians with incentives in order to advance peace negotiations, including the option of joining the EU. He went on to say that after an agreement was reached, Israel and the Palestinians could also cooperate with NATO members. (Ma’ariv)
In an effort to address the dire social and economic conditions of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced a plan to purchase US$1.3 million worth of olive oil from 2,600 selected poor farmers. Working in collaboration with the PA Ministry of Agriculture, WFP would deliver 416 tons of olive oil to the Programme's beneficiaries living in Gaza and the south of the West Bank who had limited access to oil due to its high cost and unavailability in markets. “By purchasing the oil directly from the farmers, we are able to assist the most vulnerable in the Palestinian territories while simultaneously helping the local economy of the West Bank,” according to Jean-Luc Siblot of the WFP. (WFP press release, 11 February 2004)
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Israeli soldiers shot dead a Hamas activist in a village north of Ramallah. The soldiers entered the village to arrest the man, but shot him when he tried to flee and ignored warning shots, an army spokesman said. Neighbours said the man was not armed. (Albawaba.com, DPA, Reuters)
Israeli forces entered the Balata refugee camp in Nablus and fighting erupted, wounding two residents. Israeli soldiers had arrested five Palestinians in Tulkarm. Local witnesses said soldiers entered the western part of the city and surrounded the house of the Da’aas family. Of the five arrested, four were brothers of Ziad Da’aas, who had been killed by soldiers two years before. In Beit Sahour, two brothers, Abed and Khaled Sheibat, were arrested. The IDF arrested three Palestinian children trying to cross the Rafah border into Egypt. One child was slightly wounded by IDF gunfire. Two Palestinians were detained before the army pulled out. (Ha’aretz, IMEMC, Reuters, Xinhua)
The Palestinian Authority said it would file an urgent complaint with the Security Council following the deaths of 15 Palestinians during the Israeli raids in Gaza City and Rafah the previous day. PA President Arafat’s adviser Nabil Abu Rudeineh told AFPthe PA “will submit an urgent complaint to the United Nations Security Council to stop Israeli massacres and crimes” against the Palestinian people. He held Israel “responsible for the [military] escalation that aims to spoil Arab or international efforts” to revive Palestinian-Israeli peace contacts and talks. PA Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erakat said the Israeli escalation “makes it necessary for the Quartet to intervene in order to guarantee the success of those efforts.” PA Security Chief Jibril Rajoub said he was powerless to rein in “militants” as long as Israel raided the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “He who invaded Gaza and killed those innocent people is trying to attract a reaction inside against Israelis in order to justify a unilateral war against the Palestinians,” he said. PA Prime Minister Qureia said that despite the escalation he was ready to hold his first meeting with Prime Minister Sharon “at the end of the month or the beginning of March if everything is okay.” (AFP, Palestine Media Centre)
The following statement was issued by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General:
(UN press release SG/SM/9157)
Foreign Minister Nabil Sha’ath called on the United States to take the lead in the peace process or designate another nation to do it. “There is no other way but a ceasefire,” Mr. Sha’ath told a news conference in Tokyo, where he was meeting with Japanese officials. “Without an agreed political process leading to a ceasefire, it’s very difficult to stop a cycle of violence,” he said. He also said he did not believe the problems lay with the Road Map itself, but rather with a lack of leadership of the Quartet, “Iraqi problems, their reflections in domestic politics, and elections … gradually the role of the United States in making the Quartet work has diminished significantly, the other members of the Quartet feel they are not authorized to do that work without the United States, and things are deteriorating on the ground.” (Reuters)
Pope John Paul II said the situation in the Middle East called for “forgiveness not revenge, and bridges not walls,” during a brief meeting with PA Prime Minister Qureia, the Vatican said. “No one must yield to the temptation of discouragement, let alone to hatred or retaliation. It is reconciliation that the Holy Land needs,” the Pope said. “This demands that all leaders of the region follow, with the help of the international community, the path of dialogue and negotiation which leads to lasting peace,” he added. (AFP)
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Israel decided not to attend the ICJ hearings on the separation barrier, the Prime Minister’s Office announced. In a phone poll, ministers made the decision hours after legal advisers recommended that Israel stay away from the proceedings set to start on 23 February at The Hague. “The ministerial team, headed by … Sharon, decided to make do with the affidavit Israel filed on 1 January, stating that the Court does not have the authority to hold hearings on the fence,” the statement said. The legal team urged Israel not take part in oral arguments before the ICJ because that would lend legitimacy to a case they said was politically motivated and outside the Court’s jurisdiction. Israel Army Radioreported that Justice Minister Yosef Lapid was the only member of an ad hoc seven-member Cabinet-level team who had supported arguing the case in court. Israel Army Radiolater reported that figures at the State Attorney’s office were disputing the ministerial panel’s decision. They considered that both in terms of public image and for legal considerations it would be better for Israel to send a representative to the hearing even if it did not accept the Court’s authority. PA Labour Minister Ghassan al-Khatib said, “I hope this Israeli decision will not affect the Court’s endeavour to carry out its obligation.” (The Guardian, Ha’aretz, Ma’ariv, Reuters, Xinhua)
A documentary about Palestinian suffering in the Gaza Strip was presented to an audience at the 54th Berlin Film Festival in Germany. The film, entitled “Death in Gaza,” was a documentary about life in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and also become a memorial to the film’s director, who had been shot to death by Israeli forces before the film was completed. On May 2003, British Director James Miller, 34, had fallen under a hail of bullets fired by Israeli soldiers, just as he was bringing his documentary to a close. (AFP, DPA)
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The PA said it would stop paying members of its security forces in cash and would instead deposit salaries in their bank accounts, in line with reforms urged by donors to increase financial transparency in the PA. The move would affect more than 40,000 security officers in a dozen organizations. “A decision has been taken by the Cabinet to pay the salaries of the security forces through bank accounts,” PA Prime Minister Qureia told reporters after a weekly Cabinet meeting, adding that instructions were given to Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, who had been pushing to end the cash payments, to start making the bank deposits as of the current month. (AP, Reuters)
PA Prime Minister Qureia expressed concern that the US might be moving away from the Road Map. With a group of US envoys scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Sharon in a few days to discuss an Israeli plan involving the unilateral withdrawal of troops from some Palestinian areas, Mr. Qureia told reporters: “What I heard is that they may accept Sharon’s plan. And this ‘may’ is irritating and worrying.” PA Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erakat said that by discussing the plan with Mr. Sharon the visiting US envoys would send the wrong message: “Doesn’t that mean they are abandoning the bilateral negotiations and abandoning the Road Map? Because the whole idea of unilateral steps means replacing negotiations with dictation.” (AP)
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Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for destroying an IDF tank in Rafah. Palestinian witnesses in the Al-Salam neighbourhood said they had heard a huge explosion, followed by intensive gunfire by the Israeli forces stationed near the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, and had seen more tanks and APCs arriving at the scene, adding the tank was badly damaged. The group said the operation had been videotaped, and added that it would not stop targeting the IDF until it withdrew its forces and troops from the Occupied Palestinian Territory. (Xinhua)
Israel Radioquoted the head of the Gaza Strip settlers, Avner Shimoni, as saying they had decided to place the cornerstones of three new settlements in the area, in response to Prime Minister Sharon’s intention to evacuate 17 settlements from there. The first would be built between the settlements of “Netzer Hazani” and “Ganei Tal,” near Khan Yunis, the second between the “[Kerem] Atzmona” settlement and Rafah, while the third would be established in the north between the settlements of “Alei Sinai” and “Dugit.” Mr. Shimoni said the settlements couldn’t be established without approval by the Israeli Government. The decision aimed at completing the plan to house 500 new settlers in the “Gush Katif” settlement block, with the “Gush Katif” settlement planning to house 48 new families and the “Neveh Dekalim” another 65 families during the coming summer. Israeli reports said the new settlers would be living in mobile homes in the settlements of “Netzer Hazani,” “Gadid,” “Netzarim,” “Morag” and “Gan Or.” (Xinhua)
Dozens of members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) organized a demonstration in Israel near the Eretz border crossing to the Gaza Strip, protesting against the IDF’s continuing closures and raids on Palestinians. The ISM said in a communiqué issued previously the demonstration had been held in order to grant freedom for 1.2 millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which hd been taken away by the IDF. The statement said that “since May 2003 Israel has sealed off the Gaza Strip and alienated it from the world and bars access to peace activists, observers and even employees of the human rights organizations.” The ISM also accused Israel in the communiqué of taking advantage of the closures to carry out raids against Palestinians and violate human rights and international law. The IDF had reportedly attacked the demonstrators and denied them access to the Gaza Strip, and no injuries were reported. (Xinhua)
In the evening, part of a stone embankment adjacent to East Jerusalem’s Western Wall, next to where Jewish women prayed, collapsed during a rare snowstorm. No one was hurt, and the Western Wall itself and the Al-Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount compound above it were undamaged. Adnan al-Husseini, head of the Waqf, whose authority included Al-Aqsa Mosque above the wall, said it had been complaining about Israeli renovations of the Western Wall plaza for some time: “We’ve been saying it could cause problems.” Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar said it was the fifth time in two years stones in the complex had begun to crumble, buckle or crack as a result of what she called "unsupervised construction by the Waqf," a charge the Palestinians denied. Engineers were also looking at whether a small earthquake the previous week might have played a part in the incident. Israeli police kept people away from the site the next day, as a communiqué from Chief Taysir Al-Tamimi blamed the collapse on the Israeli excavations in the substructure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He said the projects revealed Israeli attempts at destroying the mosque in order to establish a Jewish temple and called on the Arab League and international organizations to intervene to avert further deterioration. Hamas accused Israel of trying to destabilize the Al-Aqsa compound by carrying out construction in the vicinity and vowed to exact revenge. (Reuters, Xinhua)
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Israeli soldiers shot dead Palestinian security officer Jamal Al-Afifi, 45, in front of his house in Rafah. The IDF said gunmen had fired on an army outpost at the nearby “Rafiakh Yam” settlement and troops had shot back. In another incident, Israeli troops stationed near the “Nitzer Hazani” settlement opened intensive gunfire at the residential area in Khan Yunis, wounding Ayman Al-Astal, 20. He was in moderate condition at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, the medical sources said. The witnesses said Palestinian militants had fired an anti-tank missile at the settlement before the Israeli soldiers opened intensive gunfire, but Mr. Astal was not involved in the attack. (Reuters, Xinhua)
A Palestinian civilian had died of wounds suffered during an IDF raid in Rafah on 11 February, medics said. (Reuters)
Mohammed Al-Sheikh, 41, died early in the morning while waiting in line at the overcrowded Erez checkpoint to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Two other Palestinians were treated for shortness of breath, Al-Shifa hospital reported. An IDF spokesman said the worker had suffered a heart attack. An army medic at the crossing tried to resuscitate him, but failed. A joint Israeli-Palestinian security team conducted an inquiry but no conclusions were drawn. (DPA, Ha’aretz, Xinhua)
A young Palestinian man, Louie Abu Hamdeh, 17, was killed while his mother and 9-year-old brother were seriously wounded in an explosion inside a Gaza City apartment. The blast in the 12-storey building had apparently been caused by either the premature detonation of a bomb or the accidental explosion of a cooking gas cylinder, residents and security officials initially said. There was no visible damage outside the building, ruling out an Israeli air strike, though Israeli warplanes had been circling for several hours, which led to the initial reports blaming the incident on an Israeli missile. Later reports said the young man had been handling a hand grenade when it went off. (AP, DPA)
Israel’s Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman sent letters to 10 of the 21 Cabinet members, calling on them to support and help develop further his new plan which would see the Palestinians fenced into four West Bank districts, or cantons, with Israel controlling access between them. He said the letters had gone to all the ministers who had not publicly supported Prime Minister Sharon’s disengagement plan, including Finance Minister Netanyahu. “The issue is not to torpedo the Prime Minister’s initiative, but to present an alternative,” Mr. Lieberman told Israel Radi. “It is clear to the US that the Road Map can only be spoken of in the past tense, and so now is the optimum time to present a new initiative.” The PA dismissed the idea as a plot by the “extremist Israeli right” to block the creation of a Palestinian State as envisioned in the Road Map. Prime Minister Sharon’s office had no immediate comment. (AP, Reuters)
Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, attending a conference at an Israeli think tank in Jerusalem, welcomed the prospect of an Israeli evacuation of the Gaza Strip settlements, calling it “a very promising perspective.” “The Road Map must provide the framework for implementation of such proposals to ensure a coordinated implementation in cooperation with the Palestinians and the international community,” he added. Mr. Fischer also called on Israel to change the route of its separation barrier in the West Bank, saying: “If Israel thinks that in defending [itelf] against terror it must build the fence, we are not criticizing that fact. We are criticizing the line. We hope the Israeli Government will put forward some wise decisions and change substantially the course of the fence.” (AP, Reuters)
The Knesset's Finance Committee voted to allocate NIS96 million (US$22 million) for settlers' housing projects, which lawmakers said would be almost entirely in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Committee approval, the last major step needed to release the funds, came by eight votes to seven, with the absence of two members of the Shinui party, opposed to investment in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The money had originally been allocated to housing assistance for young couples and low-income families in Israel, Ha’aretzreported, adding that some of it would now also be used to fortify positions around Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s house in East Jerusalem’s Old City. MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) told Israel Radiothat in the light of the possible dismantling of some settlements, “it is our obligation and our right to care for the settlements that exist under difficult circumstances.” Palestinian officials said the decision undermined the Road Map. PA Minister for Negotiations Affairs Saeb Erekat said: “At a time when they speak about withdrawing settlements from Gaza, they allocate millions of dollars for settlements throughout the West Bank and Gaza.” The measure was criticized by the opposition MKs, with Meretz filing a no-confidence motion, while the Shinui faction demanded a re-vote. The Prime Minister’s Office declined comment. (AFP, AP, Ha’aretz)
Belgium's Foreign Minister Louis Michel told reporters after his meeting with Foreign Minister Shalom in Jerusalem that he had welcomed Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to evacuate the Gaza Strip settlements, and that a UN-supervised international force would have to maintain order in the Gaza Strip: “It is clear that the situation in Gaza could explode at any time; therefore order needs to be put there, and the only way to achieve that is by sending multinational forces to the Gaza Strip.” (IMEMC)
Jan Kristensen of Norway, outgoing head of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), speaking in his personal capacity, said in an interview that Israeli policies were forcing Palestinians to leave Hebron. “In a sense, cleansing is being carried out. In other words, if the situation continues for another few years, the result will be that no Palestinians will remain there,” the 58-year-old Norwegian told Ha’aret. “There are roadblocks in the area all the time. Once there were more than 100 days of continuous curfew, with only brief interruptions … The settlers go out almost every night and attack those who live near them. They break windows, cause damage and effectively force the Palestinians to leave the area … These are the conditions we are monitoring.” Military measures, including roadblocks severely hampering entry to and exit from the city, had also led markets to close and many Palestinians to quit for economic reasons. “I understand why the commander of the [IDF’s] Hebron Brigade has to act – after all, more than 30 suicide bombers have come from the city,” Mr. Kristensen said, but added this did not justify measures such as curfews on all inhabitants and the demolition of whole apartment buildings where wanted fugitives were hiding. In an interview the same day, TIPH official Roar Sorensen said Mr. Kristensen was not speaking for TIPH, and seemed to back up his comments, saying: “Palestinians are moving out because it is difficult to live in H-2. It’s hard to do business, hard to move around, and the area is extremely tense.” The Palestinian Governor of the Hebron area, Arif Jaabari, said many Palestinians had fled because of Israeli curfews and other harsh security measures: “People always feel afraid. Anyone who has an opportunity to leave the area will leave.” Some 35,000 Palestinians lived in the Israeli-controlled section of Hebron (H2) before the intifada started. Mr. Kristensen said no exact figures were available about how many had left, but the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem estimated the number to be close to 15,000. In a lengthy written response, the Israeli military insisted soldiers took pains not to harm civilians but did not address the claim that thousands of Palestinians had left parts of Hebron under Israeli control. Noam Arnon, a spokesman for the Hebron settlers, accused TIPH of being biased. (AP, Xinhua)
Secretary-General of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council Sakher Bseisso told Al-Hayat Al-Jadidathat Israel had not responded to the Council members' request for authorizations to attend the session to be held on 25 February. He said the Fatah leadership could consider holding the Council’s session outside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, but feared Israel would also prevent them from doing that. He added that the session was scheduled to discuss reforms within the movement and the PA institutions, as well as preparations for the Fatah General Conference, which had not been held in 10 years. He said, “We would discuss the vacancies available in the movement’s institutions, including the movement’s Central Committee … We would also allow younger generations to join the movement’s leadership through a democratic process.” (Xinhua)
The two-day Doha Development Forum opened with calls to resolve conflicts in the Middle East that were hampering progress and contributing to terrorism. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict “imposes a heavy burden on the region and its energies,” Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassim said. Former South African President F.W. de Klerk said Palestinians and Israelis could learn from his country’s experience and take steps towards “meaningful negotiations.” He said the Israelis could initiate dismantling settlements on land to be part of a Palestinian State. Palestinian leaders, he said, could do “everything in their power” to stop suicide bombings. “I don’t know of any conflict permanently settled without meaningful negotiations,” he also said. “Only by talking and reaching agreement can peace, and lasting peace, be achieved.” (AP)
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Israeli soldiers stationed at the Al-Muntar (Karni) terminal in the eastern Gaza Strip had fired heavy shells at a nearby Palestinian border police post, inflicting damage to the building, the Palestinian general security services said in a statement. Israeli troops stationed near Khan Yunis had also opened fire at Palestinians’ houses in the Al-Amal neighbourhood and the nearby refugee camp, according to the statement. In another development, sources at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital said that Palestinian paramedics were able to reach a 20-year-old Palestinian who had been shot by Israeli troops late on 15 February in eastern Gaza and left there, untreated and bleeding, as the Israeli troops opened fire at Palestinian ambulances that attempted to reach him. The sources said that the Palestinian had sustained serious wounds and was undergoing surgery. (Xinhua)
Fayez Abu Sharkh, 18, died from his wounds sustained two weeks earlier when he was shot in the head by Israeli troops while on his way home in Khan Yunis. A 50-year-old Palestinian from the village of Khuza’a, east of Khan Yunis, was shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers on his way to his farm. (Xinhua)
An Israeli was slightly wounded when gunmen open fire at his vehicle in the West Bank, north of the “Ofra” settlement. (Ha’aretz)
An Israeli Navy missile boat detained four Palestinians some 15 km off the coast of the Gaza Strip. (Ha’aretz)
In the Gaza Strip, some 1,500 Palestinians blocked access to the Erez Industrial Zone, located just across in Israel, to protest lengthy security controls which they said had cost the life of a colleague the day before. Israeli troops would detain thousands of Palestinian workers in small rooms for long hours before allowing only hundreds of them to cross the terminal. Director of Palestinian terminals Abu Salim Abu Safeyah strongly denounced the “inhumane and humiliating” Israeli measures and held Israel fully responsible for the recent death of the worker. Head of the Palestinian workers’ union Rasem Al-Bayari, who also participated in the protest, called on the international community and the United Nations urgently to provide protection to the workers and to all Palestinians. (AFP, AP, Xinhua)
Hundreds of students and residents of the Turah village, home to 2,000 people, west of Jenin, held a demonstration in protest against Israel’s separation barrier, marking the first day of a week-long protest campaign organized by Jenin American University in the lead-up to the 23 February hearing on the barrier at the International Court of Justice. Approximately 2,000 dunums of fertile land had been confiscated by Israel to erect a steel fence that separated the land from Turah. (AFP)
Israel’s Deputy Education Minister Zvi Hendel of the National Union party proposed a territorial exchange that would hand Israeli Arab towns over to Palestinian control, while Israel would control settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. (AP)
In an interview with Israeli military correspondents, speaking on behalf of PA President Arafat and the Palestinian leadership, Jibril Rajoub, senior adviser to Mr. Arafat, said: “Although Hamas leaders declare that their movement will ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip in case of an Israeli withdrawal, the Palestinian people will not allow it … Our people want a secular regime. They want a democratic government, not a fundamentalist government.” (UPI)
In Herzliya, Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told delegates to a conference on Israel and the EU, including Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Belgium’s Louis Michel, that Israel would “upgrade” its relation with the enlarged EU: “The Europe we’ve got used to over the last decade is changing … Not to upgrade relations with the European Union would be a dramatic mistake.” “That, of course, requires a somewhat more balanced approach to some of the more sensitive issues we are facing,” Mr. Olmert added. (AFP)
PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said he had told Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany in their first official meeting of “the dangers that the wall represents, not only for the peace process but also for the Road Map and in particular for the two-State solution and the creation of an independent Palestinian State.” Asked for his view, Mr. Schroeder said the EU had already made its position clear, adding: “We do not believe that taking a political problem to court is helpful.” (AFP)
Israel would have gained more from attending the coming week’s ICJ hearings on the West Bank separation barrier than by deciding to stay away, Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Reuter. He further said Israel needed to head off the possibility the Palestinians could try to win international approval for the same kind of boycott tactics that had helped end South Africa’s apartheid regime: “What the Palestinians are striving for is to have a condemnation from The Hague court which they then want to use in the United Nations General Assembly in order to create some sort of boycott against either Israeli goods or Israeli institutions or Israeli representatives.” (Ha’aretz)
The US Government, seeking to avoid any chaos that might emerge in the Palestinian areas from which Israel would withdraw, and to strengthen the connection between the evacuation of settlements and the Road Map, was reportedly demanding that Israel coordinate its disengagement plan with the PA. The Administration expected the implementation of the plan to be coordinated in advance with the PA so that the latter would be able to prepare to accept responsibility for the territory evacuated. The US position was described as “coordinated unilateralism,” an idea once presented by Dennis Ross, the former US Middle East negotiator, as an alternative to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (Ha’aretz, Xinhua)
Prime Minister Sharon convened his military advisers – the Defence Minister, Army Chief of Staff and directors of security services – to discuss his unilateral disengagement plan ahead of the arrival of three senior US officials. Israeli media said no decisions had been made during the meeting, but stressed the plan was beginning to take shape. Yediot Aharonotsaid Mr. Sharon supported a quick, full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including a military pullout, and was leaning towards leaving the settlements intact and handing them over to an international body that would allocate the homes and infrastructure to the Palestinians. Ha’aretzsaid Giora Eiland, Mr. Sharon’s national security director, had presented four options for Gaza, ranging from a full to an incomplete withdrawal, that would leave some Israeli troops in the area. (AP)
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, in a daily press briefing, outlined the goal of the US envoys’ mission to Israel: “It’s very important for us to keep moving, to keep the focus on making progress on the Road Map. That requires an end to violence and terror.” (AP)
Jordan will help the Palestinians protect about 1,000 archaeological sites from being threatened by the separation barrier built by Israel in the West Bank, The Jordan Timesreported. “Jordan is keen on helping the Palestinians sustain their cultural and other institutions,” Acting Prime Minister of Jordan Mohammad Halaiqa said during his meeting with PA Minister of Culture Yahya Yakhluf. Mr. Halaiqa reaffirmed that Jordan would continue supporting the Palestinians in all fields. (Xinhua)
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Refat Al-Najar, 32, died from wounds he had sustained in September 2003 from IDF troops, Abu Yousef Al-Najar hospital in Rafah said. (IMEMC, International Press Centre-Palestine)
Yousef Khalil Bashir, 15, was shot and critically wounded in the chest by IDF soldiers stationed at the “Kfar Darom” settlement, east of Deir Al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. (IMEMC)
Thirteen countries, along with the Palestinians, the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, would participate when the International Court of Justice convened to hear oral arguments. A press release issued by the Court listed the following countries scheduled to speak from 23 to 25 February: Algeria, Bangladesh, Belize, Cuba, Indonesia, Jordan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan and Turkey. Court spokesman Boris Heim declined to comment on the list. (AP, www.icj-cij.org)
Israeli troops used tear gas to break up a riot in Israel’s Ketziot jail which inmates said was prompted by guards assaulting a group of Palestinian prisoners. Prisoners hurled various objects at the guards after they had been attacked on board a bus ferrying them to a nearby tribunal, Shafiq Abu Hani, a lawyer with the Bethlehem-based Prisoners’ Club, told AFP. He said at 10 ten detainees had suffered breathing problems from the tear gas and that the prison authorities had refused to treat them. An army spokesman said a “very minor incident” had occurred at the centre in the southern Negev Desert and had been quickly taken care of. (AFP)
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued a press release, saying: “The ICRC’s opinion is that the West Bank Barrier, in as far as its route deviates from the 'Green Line' into occupied territory, is contrary to international humanitarian law.” The ICRC said it was “increasingly concerned about the humanitarian impact of the West Bank barrier on many Palestinians living in occupied territory,” as Israel had gone “far beyond what is permissible for an occupying Power under international humanitarian law.” Balthasar Staehelin, ICRC Delegate-General for the Middle East and North Africa, said the ICRC had decided to make its concerns public after 18 months of observations because the Israelis had continued building the barrier: “It was important for us to first have a thorough monitoring of the humanitarian consequences that the construction of this barrier entails for the population on the ground, and not to hastily come to any conclusions as soon as any construction starts.” The ICRC’s conclusion was that the barrier’s consequences “are of serious concern and that they indeed are contrary to a number of articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention,” Mr. Staehelin said. (AFP, AP, www.icrc.org, Reuters,)
Peace Now's “Outpost Survey in the Occupied Territories 2003” indicated that Israel continued to expand settlement outposts in the West Bank, currently numbering 102, with three having been built since the Road Map was launched in June 2003. The report noted that in 2003, twelve outposts had been connected to the Israeli electricity system and eight had received paved roads. Fifteen outposts had started building permanent homes and several more had made “significant extensions.” The group presented a letter from Capt. Talia Somekh of the IDF’s "Civil Administration" to the Reshef and Reshef law firm, appealing to the IDF on behalf of Peace Now under Israel's freedom of information law. The letter showed that the IDF had granted permission for planning and agricultural work at 20 outposts, some slated for evacuation. Ra’anan Gissin, spokesman for Prime Minister Sharon, said: “If they are unauthorized, everything will go, including electricity and the roads.” He said orders had been issued to remove 28 outposts so far, but the orders had been challenged in court. (AP, Ha’aretz)
Addressing the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy, PA Prime Minister Qureia said the PA would be capable of running the Gaza Strip once Israel left, and wanted European support to “build our security,” saying: “I think we will need international forces or peacekeeping forces at that time.” “This will help … to control, to manage, to monitor the situation, whether on Rafah as a border or on the other borders with Israel,” and to provide “confidence” for Israel. “We have no problem in this regard,” he said. “We ask for international peacekeeping to be in the West Bank and Gaza.” In a wide-ranging speech, Mr. Qureia also urged European leaders to condemned Israeli actions – such as last week’s military incursions in the Gaza Strip that killed 15 Palestinians – as forcefully as they condemn suicide bombings by Palestinians: “We condemn killing civilians … we want a strong voice from you." Mr. Qureia reiterated that a key part of his Government’s reform agenda was the legislative and presidential elections he hoped to hold in June or July 2004. (AP, DPA , www.europarl.eu.int)
PA Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, in Brussels with PA Prime Minister Qureia, said the decline in donor aid since August 2003 had forced Palestinians into a “crisis-management mode.” He said the PA had become “among the best in the region” when it came to promoting transparency and accountability in financial matters, although it was not “the ultimate goal, but it is an important landmark.” (AP)
EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, speaking after talks with PA Prime Minister Qureia, said on Israel’s planned withdrawal from Gaza: “We have to welcome it if the settlements are dismantled.” But he warned: “It is very, very important that this is not unilateral but done in a concerted manner.” Asked if he backed Mr. Qureia’s call for the deployment of international forces to ensure peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Solana said the EU was “open to discussion of any possibility.” But an international role in the region would only be considered if Israeli withdrawal was done “in dialogue” with the PA and evacuated settlements were not rebuilt in the West Bank. “We would like to have the withdrawal in the spirit of the Road Map,” Mr. Solana underlined. (DPA, ue.eu.int/solana)
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Terje Rød-Larsen briefed the UN Security Council on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.” (Reuters, UN press release SC/8003)
Jordan would repair a wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque partly damaged by Israeli excavations beneath it, its Islmaic Affairs Minister Ahmad Helayel told AP. He said the damage to the eastern wall of the mosque had been “limited to a small part of the wall which bulged out by two centimetres” and to part of the road leading to a mosque entrance, known as the Moroccan Gate. “We blame the damage to the Al-Aqsa Mosque’s eastern wall on continuous Israeli excavations and the digging process under the mosque,” Helayel said, adding that the damage also could have been caused by a moderate earthquake which had hit Israel and neighbouring countries on 11 February, and a snowstorm on the following weekend. (AP)
Three US envoys – Assistant Secretary of State William Burns; Stephen Hadley, Deputy Director of the National Security Council; and Elliot Abrams, a Middle East specialist at the Council – met with Israeli officials to learn more about Prime Minister Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal proposals. The team, the highest-ranking US delegation visiting the region in eight months, was trying to determine to what extent the Israeli idea of imposing a boundary on the Palestinians would violate the Road Map. “They’re here to listen,” said US Embassy spokesman Paul Patin. “We’re not sure what’s on Sharon’s mind. We want to hear exactly what his plans are.” (AP)
Israel Army Radioquoted an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying the Government would delay implementation of the Gaza pullout until after the US presidential elections in November 2004, but the disengagement plan would likely be finalized within three months. At that time, a national referendum would be held. Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office also told the radio that there was “a good chance” the Gaza settlement evacuation would be carried out in 2005. (The Jerusalem Post)
Ismail Hanieh, a top political leader of Hamas, denied Israeli media reports his movement was seeking to take over control of the Gaza Strip should Prime Minister Sharon dismantle Israeli settlements in the territory, telling AF: “Israeli propaganda on Hamas’ strength and the fact it could take things into its own hands and marginalize the PA is meant to confuse people and plant the seeds of discord.” “The movement seeks to free all Palestinian lands and is not concerned with taking control or making any personal profit,” Hamas spokesman Said Syam told Xinhua the next day. (AFP, Xinhua)
Israeli troops arrested 11 Palestinians: four in Tulkarm, said to be members of Fatah, a woman in Jenin, and six others in Hebron, among them three Fatah members. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported Israeli security forces in Nablus had arrested five Palestinians suspected of firing at Israeli cars and IDF outposts over recent weeks. The Jerusalem Post said the cell was affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. IMEMC reported 36 Palestinians arrested. (AFP, IBA, IMEMC, The Jerusalem Post, Xinhua)
According to the Libération newspaper, a report by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) due to be released in early March 2004 would show the PA did not use the financial assistance from the EU to “help in any way to fund terror organizations like the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,” directly or indirectly. The report would nevertheless recommend tighter controls on financial aid. (The Jerusalem Post, www.liberation.fr)
A high-ranking US envoy delegation – Deputy National Security Adviser Steve Hadley, National Security Council member Elliot Abrams, and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns – met with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. Mr. Shalom told Israel Radioafterwards that the US officials were “not opposed to the evacuation of settlements. They want the Israeli plan to be integrated into the Road Map … on the other hand, they don’t want settlers from the Gaza Strip to be transferred to Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], or the annexation of territories there in exchange for an evacuation of Gaza.” The envoys also met with Dov Weissglas, Chief of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Bureau. (AFP; see DF of 18 February 2003)
Israel’s Minister of Housing and Construction Effi Eitam, leader of the National Religious Party, offered a peace plan that would initially give Palestinians limited control over schools, garbage collection and other municipal affairs. Eventually, areas of Gaza would be joined with Egypt and West Bank residents would be joined in a confederation with neighbouring Jordan. The plan apparently ruled out an independent Palestinian State, and Palestinians who decided to remain under Israeli control would not have the right to vote. (AP)
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Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian militants near midnight in the central Gaza Strip. Three other militants escaped. Israel Radioreported that a third Palestinian had been wounded. Palestinian security sources said a three-hour gun battle had taken place near the “Kissufim” roadblock, east of Deir Al-Balah. Israeli military quoted by APsaid soldiers had fired on four armed Palestinians approaching a border fence near a crossing point between Gaza and Israel. The two dead Palestinians were identified as Muwafaq (Raed, according to DPA) Al-Aaraj, 22, from the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, and Muhannad (Ayman, according to DPA) Abu Hattab from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. (AFP, DPA)
According to an IDF statement Israeli forces overnight had demolished two houses: one in the village of Silat Al-Harithiya, north-west of Jenin, belonging to Muhamed Daud Tahayneh, an Islamic Jihad member accused of attempting to dispatch a suicide bomber to Israel in August 2003; and another in Salfit, south of Nablus, belonging to Hussam Al-Kader Halabi, a Fatah member accused of carrying out shooting attacks on Israeli vehicles, among them an attack on 4 August 2002, in which two Israeli settlers were killed and two others wounded, and on 24 March 2002 near the “Neve Tzuf” settlement, in which an Israeli was killed. (AFP, www.idf.il)
The IDF had handed notices to three families residing in Al-Buqea village near Hebron informing them of their intention to demolish houses allegedly built without permits near the “[Givat] Kharsina” and “Kiryat Arba” settlements, the General Defence for Palestinians’ Lands Committee said. Similar notices had been handed to four families in the adjacent Yatta village. Mussa Makhamra, the Committee's attorney, said the Israeli notices had been distributed in line with Israel’s “ethnic cleansing” operations against Palestinians in the area. The Israeli military authorities in Hebron at a meeting on 18 February reportedly discussed 35 files concerning the demolition of water wells and reservoirs in Yatta, whose residents had been suffering from water scarcity. (Xinhua)
Israeli troops backed by tanks and APCs raided the Balata refugee camp near Nablus before dawn, closing all its entrances, imposing a curfew and carrying out house-to-house searches. (Xinhua)
The IDF transfered Luai Tayssir Salama, a PFLP-GC member, to the Gaza Strip for four years, after a detention without trial in an Israeli prison. Mr. Salama, a resident of the Qaryut village, north of Ramallah, said he had been arrested by an undercover Israeli unit during an IDF raid into Ramallah two years before: “They accused me of being a risk to Israel’s security. That’s how they describe people they want to put in jail or deport.” (AFP, Reuters)
Three US envoys continued their meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials respectively. US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer was quoted by Israel Army Radio in the morning as saying the purpose of the envoys’ visit to Israel was to test whether it was possible to move on from the Road Map to an alternative plan so as to secure peace with security. The US Administration wants to know how Sharon intended to execute the plan, what would happen the day after the Israeli withdrawal, and how the disengagement would affect the chances for an agreement in the future. Prime Minister Sharon briefed US officials on the disengagement plan in a three-hour meeting . Mr. Sharon’s office said in a statement: “The Prime Minister reiterated that Israel is committed to US President George Bush’s vision and stressed that the Road Map is the only diplomatic plan acceptable to Israel.” Mr. Burns then met with PA Prime Minister Qureia’s Chief of Staff and Saeb Erakat, PA Negotiations Minister, at the US Consulate in East Jerusalem. “I told him that we believe peace can be achieved in bilateral negotiations, not by unilateral steps,” Mr. Erakat said after the meeting, adding Mr. Burns had not told him anything about his talks with the Israeli officials. “The solution should be bilateral and not unilateral,” he told Reutersearlier, also in reference to the Road Map, and added Israel must withdraw from the West Bank, as well as remove settlers from Gaza, to make a Palestinian State and peace a reality: “If not, then Gaza, which is a big jail for Palestinians with some settlers, will only be a big jail for Palestinians with fewer settlers.” The US delegation was expected to meet with senior Israeli defence officials later in the day, and with PA Finance Minister Salam Fayyad before returning to Washington in the evening, a US official told AFP. (AFP, AP, Reuters, www.pmo.gov.il, Xinhua)
Israeli Defence Minister Mofaz was quoted by Yediot Aharonot as saying he expected the Gaza pullout to begin at the end of the year or early in 2005 and that not only the settlers but also the military would leave: “No soldier will remain in the settlements of the Gaza Strip in any way.” He said the military would retain control of the Gaza Strip’s airspace and coastal waters and would continue to patrol the Gaza-Egypt border. However, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon declared his oppositionto a unilateral withdrawal, and Ma’arivsaid the view was shared by other members of the general staff. “We should only leave Gaza as part of an agreement, not unilaterally,” the paper quoted Yaalon as telling a meeting between Prime Minister Sharon and security chiefs on 17 February. He reportedly advised asking the US to put more pressure on the Palestinians to come to a negotiated solution with Israel: “We need to leave the door open for the Palestinians to return to negotiations.” (AP)
In an interview with Le Figaro on the French plan for a “Great Middle East,” Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin proposed sending international peacekeepers to the Gaza Strip (IBA, www.lefigaro.fr)
Amnesty International (AI) issued a report entitled "Israel and the Occupied Territories: The place of the fence/wall in international law.” In an accompanying press release AI, “on the eve of the International Court of Justice’s hearing on the construction of the fence/wall by Israel,” called on the Israeli authorities to “immediately dismantle the sections already built inside the West Bank and halt the construction of the fence/wall and related infrastructure inside the Occupied Territories.” In the report, AI said it believed the barrier “violates international law and is contributing to grave human rights violations. Therefore, it is appropriate that a court of law examines this matter.” (AI press release MDR/15/016/2004)
An ICJ press release announced three days of hearings on the Israeli separation barrier in the Court’s Great Hall of Justice at the Peace Palace which would be webcast live and in full in English or French on its web site: “The Court has decided to provide video coverage of its hearings on the Internet in response to the exceptional interest in this case shown by the general public, civil society and the media worldwide.” (AP, www.icj-cij.org)
“No one would blame [the Israelis] for building a wall along the borders of their sovereign State. I do not see how the building of a wall on Palestine territory could be justified as a security measure,” UN Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur in the Occupied Palestinian Territory John Dugard told AFP. (AFP)
Two Israeli soldiers had severely beaten a Palestinian truck driver and a Palestinian taxi driver two weeks earlier at a road block near the “Shavei Shomron” settlement, north-west of Nablus, Israel Radioreported. The truck driver, Hani Halil, from Jericho, arrived at the road block in the early morning with the necessary Israeli-authorized travel permits, when, he alleges, two soldiers began kicking and hitting him with their rifles for 40 minutes, leaving him bloodied and bruised. One of the soldiers smelled of alcohol, he told the radio. A third one stood by holding him at gunpoint. They told him to turn his truck around and go back, he claimed. Mr. Halil said he contacted an Israeli friend from a nearby settlement, who called some army officers, with whom he filed a complaint. Another Palestinian taxi driver, Mohammed Sbadi, from Tulkarm, had filed a similar complaint about the same two soldiers. The IDF said it had opened an investigation into the “severe” incident on receiving the complaints, which revealed one soldier had beaten the Palestinians. The army said it would take “disciplinary measures” against the soldier, while the investigation had yet to be completed. (DPA)
Two members of the Islamic Jihad – Amjed Abeidi and Sami Jaradat, both aged 36 – were handed 21 life terms by an Israeli military court in the West Bank over their involvement in the attack on the Maxim restaurant in Haifa on 4 October 2003, which had left 21 people dead as well as the female bomber, the IDF indicated in a statement, adding that the two men had dispatched the bomber and prepared the transportation. (AFP)
Speaking in Jerusalem to Jewish leaders visiting from the US, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon said: “The steps that Israel will take in a disengagement plan will be fully coordinated with the United States.” Speaking at the same conference, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: “Building Ariel might have been a mistake.” Mr. Olmert voiced his support for the “Clinton plan,” which calls for evacuating all the West Bank settlements, apart from four major ones [“Ma’aleh Adumim,” “Ariel,” “Kiryat Sefer/Modiin Illit” and “Beitar Illit”]. (AP, Ma’ariv)
Israeli Channel 2TV quoted unnamed US Administration officials as saying the US would agree to the transfer of settlers from the Gaza Strip to the main settlement blocks in the West Bank. However, the officials said Washington would insist on dismantling the West Bank settlements, with “Sanur,” “Homesh,” “Ganim” and “Kadim” (all in the Jenin area) to be dismantled in the first phase. No financial aid was to be given to Israel during that time period. (Ma’ariv)
Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher, speaking to reporters after meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Ban Ki-Moon, said concerning Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to dismantle settlements in the Gaza Strip: “We have not given an official response regarding this proposal. If there is a withdrawal from any settlement, I think it is a positive development. We also want to be sure this is within the context of the Road Map … So while the initial reaction to the withdrawal is certainly positive, we want to make sure that it falls within the context of a negotiated solution between the two parties… We reserve judgement until we get an answer regarding this question.” Mr. Muasher reiterated Jordan’s opposition to the controversial separation barrier Israel was building in the West Bank, saying: “I believe that Jordan made a very strong case for the illegality of the wall and the repercussions the wall will have both on the life of Palestinians and Jordanians national interests.” (AFP)
An Israeli army reserve colonel, Shaul Arieli, estimated that the barrier, with its current route, would disrupt the lives of 800,000 Palestinians and grab about 900 sq km of the West Bank, or about 15 per cent of the territory. Mr. Arieli, who was touring with a computer map presentation of an alternate route, said Israel could build a far less intrusive barrier without compromising on security if it moved the route much closer to the Green Line. His proposed route “doesn’t harm the Palestinians, doesn’t annex Palestinian territories, it only protects Israelis,” he said. (AP)
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The IDF arrested six Palestinians in Beit Sahour, east of Bethlehem. IMEMC said the Israeli forces had targeted the house of Mohammad Hermas. The troops had raided the house and arrested his two sons, Nael and Nader Hermas, as well as their neighbour, Mohammad Darwish. They had also arrested three others who were staying with the Hermas family and were claimed by Israel as wanted: Salah Al-Hamouri, Mahmoud Al-Adarbeh and Ghassan Abu Al-Kheiran. Palestinian sources said Ghassan Abu Kharan, 30, was a senior member of the PFLP. (AP, IMEMC)
Switzerland and UNRWA announced an international conference to be held in Geneva on 7 and 8 June 2004 to discuss the future of humanitarian aid to some 4.1 million Palestine refugees. Some 70 countries as well as intergovernmental organizations would be invited. Officials said the conference would be addressed by Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey. An UNRWA statement said it would be the first conference of its type in more than 50 years since the beginning of the Palestine refugee problem. “Over the past decades, the Palestine refugees have proven themselves resilient, but they continue to need help so that they can help themselves,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen told reporters. “UNRWA sees this conference as a way of raising the profile of their plight and of charting the best way to help them make full use of their human potential.” (Reuters)
In an interview, former Palestinian security chief Mohammad Dahlan called Israel’s planned unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip a “victory” and “the most important achievement of the Palestinian intifada.” “We should celebrate it,” Mr. Dahlan told Al-Quds. Arguing that Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to withdraw “should come without any political price or agreement,” he added, “We should be delighted.” (DPA)
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Olmert said that as part of unilateral moves, Israel would withdraw not only from much of Gaza, but also from areas of the West Bank. It would seek to retain major settlement blocks there, while dismantling settlements close to Palestinian towns and villages “wherever possible.” The comments suggested that an Israeli pullback in the West Bank could be larger in scale than initially indicated by Prime Minister Sharon. “What is clear is that we will evacuate, in a process of disengagement that will widen, not only along the Gaza Strip, obviously, but will also expand into the West Bank wherever possible … The Americans understand this … [the] argument is over all those areas where the Jewish settlements are mixed in with the Palestinian population in a way that causes confrontation and damage to both sides,” Mr. Olmert told Israel Radio. Mr. Olmert also said the chances of resuming negotiations with the Palestinians were very slim and Israel could not continue with a situation that “involves an unending struggle which is wearing down our stamina and reducing our status and image abroad.” “In any case we’ll have to separate at some point,” he said. (AP)
Israel's State Attorney Edna Arbel had rejected proposals for sections of the separation barrier route she believed could not be defended in court, and had ordered changes in the sections already built and in the planned route. Ra’anan Gissin, an adviser to Prime Minister Sharon, confirmed that the State Attorney had become the final arbiter, but would not discuss the changes she had ordered: “If changes need to be made, they are made based on her opinion, on whether it will stand up in court.” He said Israel was looking for “creative” ways to solve problems caused to the Palestinian population by the barrier. In at least one case, the Defence Ministry was trying to arrange school buses for Palestinian children experiencing difficulty getting to and from school, a security official said. (AP)
An Israeli security official said workers would take down a section of the separation barrier in the northern West Bank. Soldiers were seen removing a watchtower, cables and lighting from the area the next day, while the main work would begin on 22 February. Israeli Defence Ministry spokeswoman Rachel Niedak-Ashkenazi called the timing of the barrier’s removal – on the eve of the International Court of Justice hearings in The Hague – a coincidence and said it had been planned for six months, as the barrier was a temporary one while a permanent one was being built nearby along the Green Line. “This week the eastern fence will be dismantled,” she said. Israel would open a gate in the western barrier to allow passage to a “sister” town in Israel, Baqa al-Gharbiya. PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said all parts of the barrier built on West Bank land must be removed: “We do not approve of even 1 millimetre of this wall that falls on our land.” PA Minister for Foreign Affairs Nabil Sha’ath said: “The intensive work that we have done has started to produce pressure [on Israel]. This work should continue until all the wall is removed.” The price tag for demolishing 8-9 km of the barrier east of Baqa al-Sharqiya, Zeita and Nazlat Issa, where it separated thousands of Palestinians from families and jobs in the rest of the West Bank, had initially been put at NIS70 million, but Defence Minister Mofaz said at a Cabinet meeting on 22 February that the fence correction at that site would cost only NIS20 million. (AP, Ma’ariv, Reuters)
Hundreds of settlers scuffled with Israeli police and army forces who tried to remove a caravan the settlers had brought without Government authorization to a northern West Bank outpost, Israel Radioreported. The settlers had received permission to bring caravans to the “Karnei Shomron” settlement, east of Qalqilya, but instead brought them to the unauthorized outpost of “Alonei Shilo” nearby. They succeeded in bringing one caravan into the outpost but were stopped by the IDF when they tried to drive more into it. The army confiscated two caravans and a crane but were prevented from removing the first trailer by hundreds of settlers who had come to “Alonei Shilo” from “Karnei Shomron.” The Israeli forces eventually left the outpost. (Reuters)
British International Solidarity Movement activist Tom Hurndall, 22, was cremated after a private service in London, a family spokesman said. He had died in January 2004 in a London hospital where he had lain in a coma since being shot in the head by Israeli forces on 11 April 2003. More than 120 family members and friends attended the funeral service at St. Joseph’s Parish Church in North London. The family said his ashes were being placed at nearby Highgate Cemetery. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a speech at Princeton University that Israel had to live up to its obligations under the Road Map: “We have to make life better for the Palestinian people. We have got to have openings that allow them to get to places of work, places of education, hospitals so that they have a thriving economy.” He added, however, that the Palestinians had failed to live up to their end of the Road Map by not cracking down on militants. (DPA)
The World Council of Churches (WCC) called on the Israeli Government to “stop and reverse the construction of the wall in the occupied Palestinian territories.” The Council, which brought together more than 300 Christian churches, said the barrier violated both the Charter of the United Nations and international law. The WCC, ending a three-day meeting of its Executive Committee in Geneva, called on all its churches and their ecumenical partners to “condemn the wall as an unlawful annexation which should not be recognized by any State.” (AFP, www.wcc-coe.org)
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Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man before dawn in an "off-limits" military zone near the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Masdar, director of the Shuhada’ Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in Gaza, told United Press Internationalthat Osama Yussef Al-Maghari, 33, had suffered a bullet wound to the heart and “was left to bleed to death after the Israeli occupation forces prevented ambulances from reaching him for six hours after he was shot.” An IDF spokeswoman confirmed that soldiers had hit a “suspect” Palestinian who was approaching the Israeli border fence and was only metres away from it in a prohibited zone. She was unable to say whether the man had been armed. Palestinian security officials said Mr. Al-Maghari was a policeman. (AFP, AP, DPA, Xinhua)
Four Palestinian shepherds were reportedly slightly injured by Israeli settlers south of Bethlehem. As Palestinians approached grazing land belonging to them near the “Tekoa” settlement, settlers opened fire and sent dogs after them. Palestinians said a group of settlers had confiscated the plot of land the week before, preventing the owners from using it. Israel police, who dealt with all settler-related incidents in the West Bank, were not immediately available for comment. (AFP)
Israeli National Security Council head Major-General Giora Eiland told Israel’s Channel 2he opposed basing the separation barrier route on the Green Line: “If you put it on the 1967 lines, you give it a political significance in the end, which is precisely what the other side wants … There are also clear security reasons." (Reuters)
PA Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Sha’ath said the PA was disappointed that only 10 of the 22 countries in the Arab League had seen fit to send written affidavits to the ICJ over the barrier case. “This is a negligence on the part of some Arab countries,” Mr. Sha’ath told Reuters,adding that the PA “expected all Arab countries would participate to show political support and to show there are other voices that reiterate our position.” (AP, Reuters)
Thousands of Palestinians turned out for street demonstrations across the West Bank to protest Israel’s separation barrier. The largest demonstration was in Nablus, where 2,000 people, including dozens of gunmen in black ski masks, marched through the streets. Besides protesting the barrier, the event was also partly a memorial for more than 2,600 Palestinians killed in more than three years of intifada. In Ramallah and Jenin, hundreds of Palestinians, including women and children, carried banners with slogans denouncing the barrier. Near Qalqilya, about 1,000 people protested. (AP)
Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, and National Security Council Middle East Chief Elliot Abrams met at the White House with President Bush after wrapping up a trip to the region. Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice attended the meeting. The White House declined to say what had been discussed. “It was part of the ongoing dialogue that they have,” said Sean McCormack, spokesman for the White House National Economic Council. (Reuters)
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A suicide bombing at around 8.30 a.m. (0630 GMT), the height of morning rush hour, near Liberty Bell Park in the centre of Jerusalem, killed eight people and injured 72 others on a bus. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was to “avenge Israeli massacres against Palestinians in Shijaiyeh and Rafah.” The bombing was carried out by Mohammed Zuhul, a 23-year-old building labourer from the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem, who left a two-year-old son and a pregnant wife behind. (AFP, DPA, Xinhua)
As soon as the family of suicide bomber Mohammed Zuhul heard he had carried out the bombing, his four brothers started clearing the house of its furniture, anticipating an IDF bulldozer would soon come to flatten it. Shortly after the bombing, Palestinian security sources said all access to the town had been closed. IDF jeeps entered the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem, where troops imposed a curfew and rounded up Mr. Zuhul’s parents, wife, three of his brothers and five of his sisters. The house was demolished by the IDF the next morning. A spokesman for the Defence Ministry said Israel was to decide later in the day on the “reprisals for the attack,” as Defence Minister Mofaz had called a meeting at Army headquarters in Tel Aviv with Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon and the head of the Internal Security Services Avi Dichter. (AFP, DPA, IBA)
The Palestinian leadership and the office of the PA Prime Minister issued a press statement condemning the bombing attack. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the latest suicide blast justified the construction of the West Bank separation barrier. In a meeting chaired by PA President Arafat, the Palestinian National Security Council vowed “to go after those behind this serious attack and bring them to justice,” WAFA reported. (AFP, Xinhua)
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned the suicide bombing in Jerusalem, saying in a statement: “This is another terrible outrage perpetrated by rejectionist terrorists … their immediate victims are always innocent civilians, but it is time they understood just how much damage they do to the Palestinian cause itself.” Germany called for the “terror and violence” to end and said only a political solution based on negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians could provide the basis for peace. “Murderous terrorists are trying once again to reduce to nothing the hope for progress in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians,” German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said. In Paris, Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said France condemned “with the greatest firmness this act of intolerable barbarity,” adding: “Nothing can ever justify terrorism.” Interfaxquoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko as saying: “Moscow firmly condemns the terrorist raid, clearly aimed at obstructing the effort to restore peace and undermining the implementation of the Road Map.” Russia urged Palestinian authorities “to do everything possible to curb the extremists’ activities,” and Israel “to refrain from disproportionate use of force and from unilateral moves that could frustrate the efforts to put the negotiations back on track,” the spokesman’s statement said. (AFP, www.fco.gov.uk, www.mid.ru, Xinhua)
Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations Nasser Al-Kidwa said the suicide attack in Jerusalem would have no impact on the outcome of the case before the International Court of Justice: “From the point of view of the Court, I don’t think it’s damaging frankly, because the Court is dealing with the law … From a public opinion point of view of course the images are not good although we have a very clear position in this regard: we have repeatedly condemned [such attacks] … however, from our point of view it does not change the facts with regard to the wall.” Mr. Al-Kidwa said the Palestinians would not deny Israel had a right to defend itself, but had breached international law by building parts of the barrier on territory across the Green Line: “Our main opposition to the wall stems from the fact that it is being built in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem … We have also said that Israel can build a wall in its territory along the Green Line if it so wishes. From our point of view, this would not be so great for coexistence and mutual cooperation in the future. However, no one could have challenged the legality of such measures.” Mr. Al-Kidwa also said the Israelis would leave themselves isolated if they just ignored the outcome: “It’s true that it’s not binding. However this is the highest legal body of the UN system. We are assuming at this stage that the Court will fulfil its responsibilities and will render the advisory opinion. We are assuming that the occupying Power will find itself in a position to listen very carefully to the Court and to comply with the advisory opinion.” Michael Tarazi, a legal adviser for the PLO, said the argument that the case could undermine the Road Map did not stand up: “There’s nothing in the Road Map that says international law is no longer applicable. The Road Map’s purpose is two States and this wall is destroying that possibility.” MK Azmi Bishara, attending the ICJ hearings, said even though any judgment would only be advisory, it would be a major blow for Israel should the “highest legal body in our world” declare it was acting illegally: “Israel is the only colonial country that is not aware of the costs of colonialism … The only way to secure Israel is for the Palestinian people to be free of the occupation.” (AFP)
Israel’s ambassador to Germany Shimon Stein told Welt am Sonntagthat the ICJ was “the wrong address. It should not be involved in a political conflict. Besides, it is concerned only with the barrier and not the reasons behind its construction – terror.” If the ICJ ruled against Israel on the issue of the barrier, “it would hamper political negotiations on the basis of the Road Map.” Noting that the UN was a member of the Quartet that had drafted the Road Map, he said: “To us, this shows that in the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the United Nations is at best insignificant and at worst it plays a negative role.” (AFP)
Ma’arivreported that during an overnight session in the Knesset the previous week, Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim had revealed that Israel was rerouting the separation barrier in at least three locations: “There are a number of corrections and I would call them tactical, not strategic. After closing Qalqilya off from the east it turned out that this caused a major humanitarian problem, so we ceded control of the passage from the east side of the town … At Khirbat Jabara, a village east of Taibeh, there are 306 Palestinian residents. We left the village on the west side of the fence but then we discovered the children go to school in the village of Al-Ras east of the fence.” The cost of these changes, including dismantling the existing fence segments, moving them and rebuilding them along another route, was NIS100 million. “The corrections we are making in the fence are the result of half a year’s experience in operating the fence,” Mr. Boim said in response to a question by MK Pines. “If we had not operated the fence and examined its daily operation, there are a lot of things we could not know.” (Ma’ariv)
MK Zehava Galon (Meretz) asked Chairman of the Knesset State Control Committee MK Amnon Cohen (Shas) urgently to summon the State Comptroller to a committee meeting about what she called “the fence fiasco.” Ms. Galon was asking the State Comptroller to initiate an investigation into the way the separation barrier was built and the corrections being made in the fence currently at a cost of tens of millions of shekels. She considered it a waste of money because not all of the constraints in building the fence had been taken into account. (Ma’ariv)
PA President Arafat's senior adviser Nabil Abu Rudeineh told Voice of Palestinethat the PA had not been formally notified of the US' approval of Prime Minister Sharon’s unilateral plans, which had not been discussed during the recent meetings held between Palestinian and US officials. (Xinhua)
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Israeli soldiers in the West Bank arrested 18 Palestinians overnight. (DPA)
The following statement was issued by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General in Tokyo:
(UN press release SG/SM/9163)
The ICJ opened hearings in The Hague on the legal consequences of Israel’s separation barrier. Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN Nasser Al-Kidwa, the head of the Palestinian delegation, presented to the judges the argument that the barrier was about “entrenching the occupation and the de factoannexation of large areas of Palestinian land,” making it impossible to establish a viable Palestinian State, as it would “leave the Palestinian people with only half of the West Bank within isolated, non-contiguous, walled enclaves.” He expressed the hope that the Court’s ruling would pave the way for international sanctions against Israel. Mr. Al-Kidwa said the Palestinians would not deny Israel the right to defend itself, but Israel had violated international law by building parts of the barrier on Palestinian land. (DPA, IBA, www.mopic.gov.ps)
South Africa asked the ICJ to rule against the separation barrier Israel was building in the West Bank, just as it had ruled in 1971 that apartheid South Africa’s occupation of Namibia was illegal. Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad told the Court that the ruling, which had led to international sanctions against the white leaders in Pretoria, had contributed to the end of apartheid in 1994. ”South Africa, which was once a subject of this Court, is in the midst of celebrating 10 years of our democracy. After centuries of division and conflict, South Africans found the political will to build a new democratic society. The fact that this Court had the courage to pronounce on the legal consequences of the continued presence of South Africa in Namibia contributed to the achievement of democracy.” The Court also heard arguments from Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. (DPA, IBA, Reuters)
Russia criticized the construction of the barrier as a “counterproductive move” in a statement to the Court. The barrier “undermines the efforts of overcoming the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”, according to the statement, issued on the first day of hearings into the legal consequences of the barrier. In Moscow, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Yuri Fedotov was sceptical about the procedure, saying that “a Court decision may create difficulties for the negotiation process,” as quoted by Interfax. (DPA)
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Israel’s boycott of the ICJ hearing undermined the significance of any ruling. “We regard the wall as unlawful wherever, as in many places it moves away from the international border, the Green Line, and is built on Palestinian land. We also believe … that the building of the wall is going to be counterproductive,” he said, noting that his views were shared by EU colleagues with whom he was meeting in Brussels. Mr. Straw further said: “It is quite inappropriate to take this before the ICJ given that one of the parties to the hearing, the Israelis, has refused consent to the jurisdiction. The ICJ only works effectively where all parties to any hearing accept its jurisdiction.” (AFP)
Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio condemned the building of a separation barrier on Palestinian land: “Any Government has the duty to take all means to protect its population against terrorist attacks. But all these means have to be in accordance with the rule of law and humanitarian law.” (AFP)
The legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Alan Baker, said in a statement made public at the ICJ in the Hague: “Any opinion of the Court on the substance of the request will without doubt upset the balance of the Road Map and make any meaningful resumption of negotiations more difficult to achieve.” (AFP)
Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa, in The Hague to attend the ICJ hearings, called the Israeli separation barrier “an unprecedentedly evil tactic to distort facts,” saying in a statement: “The separating wall built within occupied Palestinian territories establishes divisions and leads to segregation and destroys any real hope to achieve peace.” “The question of the wall is seriously affecting the future settlement, if any. It confirms the attitude of the occupying Power that they want to annex territories, to partition, divide the territory,” Mr. Moussa also told a news conference at the Court. (DPA, Reuters)
Israel placed a bus, mangled by a suicide bomber, at its separation barrier in the West Bank to show why it needed the construction of the wall and fence. It chose one of the barrier’s most contentious spots, the point where a towering cement wall separated Abu Dis from East Jerusalem, to put the bus on display. (Reuters)
Protests against the separation barrier continued in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, preceded by a televised speech by PA President Arafat, who urged Palestinians “to show the world how we feel” about it. “Peace and security cannot prevail between the Palestinian and Israeli people and in the region in the shadow of this … expansionist and racist segregation wall … This is another Berlin Wall … aimed at swallowing 58 per cent of our [West Bank] and transforming our towns and villages … into isolated ghettos illegally controlled by occupation settlements and preventing us from establishing our Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital,” Mr. Arafat said. The demonstrations began at noon, with a five-minute siren signalling students and workers to stop their activities for one hour and join the protests. At least 10,000 people marched in the centre of Ramallah, and similar demonstrations were held in other West Bank cities and towns, including Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem and Jenin. In towns like Qalqilya and Tulkarm marches started in the centre and led to the barrier. Up to 15,000 people demonstrated in Rafah. The IDF used tear gas and rubber-coated bullets in Abu Dis while trying to disperse a protest there. Several Palestinians and several border policemen were injured in the protest. In a village near Tulkarm, hundreds of protesters clashed with Israeli border police, who fired tear gas as the demonstrators threw stones at them. Clashes were also reported in Bethlehem, and in villages close to the barrier. (DPA, IMEMC, Reuters)
Director of Prime Minister Sharon’s Bureau Dov Weissglas cancelled a meeting with his PA counterpart Hassan Abu Libdeh because of the suicide bombing in Jerusalem the day before. (www.pmo.gov.il)
“Pakistan is committed to a two-State solution in which both Palestine and Israel live in peace with each other,” Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told a joint press conference with Head of the PLO Political Department Farouk Kaddoumi. (AFP)
At a meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Prime Minister Sharon said he did not intend to negotiate with the current Palestinian leadership because its officials had not been implementing the Road Map. He also said he would visit the US the following month to present his disengagement plan to the Americans. Mr. Sharon said he intended to ask the US to ensure there would be no diplomatic plan or demands on Israel from any source until a different Palestinian leadership was set up that fought terror and applied the Road Map. He would like to see in a written document that the US recognized the settlement blocks of “Ma’aleh Adumim,” “Ariel” and “Gush Etzion” and agreed they be excluded from the list of settlements where building was frozen. Israel would also request Washington to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian State after the Israeli withdrawal. Mr. Sharon would bring three documents to the Cabinet for approval by the end of May – the disengagement agreement, the American letter with guarantees, and the results of a referendum. The Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee had said holding a referendum on the disengagement plan was Mr. Sharon’s attempt to bypass the Knesset. (Albawaba.com, Ha’aretz, Middle East Online)
Labour MK Shimon Peres said Israel had no moral claim to the West Bank or to the Gaza Strip and must give up every inch of the territories. In a speech after meetings with Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Peres said “time is short” – no more than four months for Israel to come to terms with PA Prime Minister Qureia. Speaking at a dinner sponsored by the organization Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, Mr. Peres said the offer of a withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank was inadequate and would only perpetuate conflict with the Palestinians. Israel must give up all the land that it captured in the 1967 war, he said. “If you keep 10 per cent of the land, you keep 100 per cent of the conflict,” according to Mr. Peres. His prescription for a pullback included gradual withdrawal from the West Bank after Israel gave up all of Gaza to the Palestinians. “It is not a political decision, it is a moral decision,” Mr. Peres said. (AP)
After a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen said Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip must be incorporated into the Road Map to win international support. Mr. Cowen, whose country held the EU Presidency, said the EU saw five conditions, approaches or measures that would make an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza “acceptable to the international community.” The five measures included having the withdrawal “take place in the context of the Road Map.” It must also be a move towards establishing a two-State solution, and must not lead to “a transfer of settlement activity towards the West Bank.” “Fourthly, there must be an organized and negotiated handover of responsibility to the Palestinian Authority. And fifthly, Israel must facilitate the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Gaza.” He also said, “We agreed to promote the idea of small, concrete and visible steps fully in accordance with the Road Map, to help restore confidence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.” (AFP)
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A total of 30 people were injured during demonstrations at two West Bank locations where anti-barrier protests were being held: in Beit Surik and Beit Sira near Jerusalem. The clashes broke out as the Israeli army arrived to level the ground in preparation for building a section of the wall. Witnesses said Palestinian farmers and supporters had tried to prevent army bulldozers from razing an olive grove to make way for the wall. Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman said security forces had used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Mr. Kleiman also said three policemen had been slightly injured and five Palestinians and one Israeli had been arrested. Israeli bulldozers began work on 42 km of the separation wall in the Beit Surik despite the protests. Israel Army Radio quoted military officials as saying a total of 200 km of the wall would be built by the end of the year, including the West Bank section that surrounded Jerusalem. (AFP, DPA, Ha’aretz, Reuters)
The IDF prepared to step up its activities in the Gaza Strip, including sending forces for short-term operations in PA areas and assassinating senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials, based on a decision reportedly made on 22 February at the highest political and defence level, in the wake of the suicide bombing in Jerusalem. (Ha’aretz)
Ha’aretzreported that Mossad's Head Meir Dagan had visited Egypt in the previous few days to discuss a possible Israeli evacuation from Gaza Strip settlements. Mr. Dagan had sounded out Egyptian officials about the consequences of an army withdrawal from Israel’s border with Egypt within the larger framework of the settlement pullout. Israel also wanted guarantees that Egypt would prevent the smuggling of weapons from its territory to the Gaza Strip. (Ha’aretz, Middle East Online)
The ICJ began a second day of hearings on the legality of the separation barrier. Seven countries – Belize, Cuba, Indonesia, Jordan, Madagascar, Malaysia and Senegal – presented their arguments challenging the legality of the separation barrier. (DPA, Reuters)
For instance, Jordan told the ICJ the construction of the separation wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory violated the human rights of the Palestinians and would adversely affect Jordan’s interest. H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, told the Court, “With the exception of the Palestinians themselves, we believe it is us who are the ones most affected by Israel’s decision to place the wall where it has, where it intends to do so in the future.” While noting Israel’s security concerns, Prince Zeid said they had to be balanced with almost four decades of Israeli domination and degradation of entire civilian populations. He stressed Jordan would be faced with the prospect of absorbing many more refugees. Developing Jordan’s argument, Sir Arthur Watts QC said the course of the wall belied any claim it had been built to protect Israel’s security interests. (AFP, AP, www.petra.gov.jo)
PA Prime Minister Qureia said the ICJ hearings were the only hope for justice for the Palestinian people. Addressing a news conference in Ramallah, he criticized the Israeli and US opposition to the hearings, saying that if the Palestinian people found justice elsewhere, they would not have asked the ICJ to intervene. “We do not believe the ICJ proceedings are an obstacle to peace. This is a peaceful process to show that there is an aggression against us. If we fight they say we are terrorists, so we choose a more peaceful struggle.” He stressed Israel still had a Palestinian partner for peace if it was serious about reaching a settlement. He said he was ready to meet with Prime Minister Sharon provided the meeting produced positive results. At the muqataa,President Arafat expressed confidence the Court would reach the “right decision.” (DPA, Reuters)
Prime Minister Sharon vowed to finish the separation barrier regardless of the verdict of the ICJ. “What is in motion at The Hague is an attempt to deny Israel the fundamental right to defend itself. We will not surrender. I will build the security fence and will complete it, as the Cabinet decided,” Mr. Sharon told Ma’ariv. (AFP, Ma’ariv, Middle East Online)
Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, meeting with PLO Political Department Head Farouk Kaddoumi in Islamabad, reportedly said his country supported the two-State solution to the Middle East crisis. “Pakistan supports a two-State solution – State of Israel and State of Palestine – where both nations can live in peace with each other.” Mr. Jamali reiterated Pakistan’s support for an end to the conflict “on the basis of justice and according to the wishes of the Palestinian people.” (DPA)
Foreign Minister Shalom rejected out of hand a suggestion his office attributed to messages from European countries in the past few weeks that if Israel evacuated settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, the place should be taken over by an international force. “I am against the deployment of such a force under any circumstances as it would lead to an internationalization of the conflict, to which I am entirely opposed,” according to Mr. Shalom. An EU spokesman from Tel Aviv said EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana did not rule out the idea, but had not called for deployment. A statement from the Foreign Minister of Ireland, holding the EU Presidency, had listed a number of approaches in connection with Prime Minister Sharon’s disengagement plan, without mentioning the deployment of an international force. (Ma’ariv)
Former US envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross said Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to evacuate Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s partial withdrawal from the West Bank could help kick-start the peace process if Palestinians also accepted their responsibilities. “If Israelis in both Gaza and the West Bank are getting out of Palestinian lives and Palestinians are assuming their security responsibilities, peacemaking will be resumed and a permanent border can be negotiated relatively soon,” he said. He went on to say, “Palestinians may fear that 'Gaza First' is 'Gaza Last', but the combination of having set a precedent of evacuating settlements and completing the security barrier in the West Bank will inevitably produce at least a partial pull-back there as well.” (AFP)
The coordinator of the Bethlehem-based Palestinian Prisoners Society, Fatma Alnatsheh, stated the Israeli authorities had started applying tough measures against advocates of Palestinian prisoners, especially at major Israeli jails. Among the measures taken by Israel were requiring the lawyer defending a Palestinian prisoner coordinate her visit to the prison camp with the camp’s administration beforehand and requiring a list of the names and ID numbers of those to be visited, thus making the mission take longer and rendering it more difficult. (www.ipc.gov.ps)
Arabic Newsreported that as many as 168 British MPs, including 124 Labour Party members, had signed a petition against the Israeli separation barrier. The lawmakers had called on Prime Minister Tony Blair to denounce Israel’s construction of the wall, which pre-set borders of a future Palestinian State. Among the signatories were former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and former International Development Secretary Claire Short. (www.arabicnews.com)
The IDF ordered Palestinian security forces in Bethlehem to stop carrying firearms, Israel Radio reported, citing an increase in attacks by militants from the city. Palestinian policemen were seen manning checkpoints and patrolling the historic centre of the city without their rifles. (DPA)
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Israeli soldiers entered Ramallah and raided at least four banks, confiscating documents and seizing some US$8.3 million from about 400 accounts, which Israel said contained money sent by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah to fund Palestinian militants. The raid was a joint operation by the police, IDF and Shin Bet. “The purpose of this operation is to impair the funnelling of funds which oil the wheels of terror against Israel,” according to an IDF statement. The soldiers, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets, clashed with hundreds of stone-throwing Palestinians. Hospital sources said at least 19 people had been injured by rubber bullets, one of them in his chest, requiring an operation. The Arab Bank in downtown Ramallah and another branch in the El-Bireh neighbourhood, the International Palestinian Bank and the Cairo-Amman Bank had been taken over by the troops, Palestinian sources said. An Israeli security source described the bank raids as “a very focused activity,” adding that there were no plans to target PA President Arafat in his Ramallah compound. A military spokesman confirmed that an operation was under way in Ramallah and it would be over “within 24 hours.” PA Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erakat said the raids were unjustified. “This is destructive to the Palestinian economy and people are really worried,” he said. He feared that Palestinians would lose confidence in the banking system. The US criticized Israel for raiding banks in Ramallah to seize funds allegedly used to finance terrorist activities. The raid risked destabilizing the Palestinian banking system and should have been coordinated with Palestinian finance officials, according to State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. “We have [urged] in the past and continue to urge the Israeli Government to work closely with the Palestinian financial authorities to address the issues of transparency and of making sure that money doesn’t reach any terrorist groups through these banks,” he said. (AFP, BBC, DPA, Ha’aretz, IMEMC, Ma’ariv)
Clashes erupted for the second day in a row north of Jerusalem, where some 2,000 Palestinian, Israeli and foreign activists demonstrated against the separation wall. Some 17 people were treated on the spot for tear gas inhalation in clashes between stone-throwing youths and Israeli border policemen in the area. The protesters sat down on the land to prevent the bulldozers from levelling it and police used clubs to forcibly remove them. Israel had begun to work on the fence close to the 4 June1967 border, focusing on three locations near the adjoining villages of Qatenna, Biddu and Beit Surik. (Albawaba.com, DPA)
Israeli troops arrested 19 Palestinians, one of them a woman, during overnight operations in Hebron. Among the detainees were three members of the Islamic Jihad and five from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Palestinian sources said Mr. Ahmad Daragmeh, a leader of the Brigades in the Jenin area, had been arrested in Tubas, some 15 kilometres south of the town. (AFP)
The IDF opened an inquiry after soldiers had torched a tent sheltering the family of a Palestinian suicide bomber whose house had been destroyed by troops. “This incident did happen and an inquiry was opened to look into the circumstances leading to it,” military sources said. “We won’t hesitate to take any measures against the soldiers if necessary,” the spokesman added. The family of Mohammed al-Zuhul, who had blown himself up in a Jerusalem bus on 22 February, said troops had torn down and burnt a tent that was given to them by the Red Cross after their house was razed by army bulldozers. The four-room house in the village of Hussan, near Bethlehem, had been home to 13 people. The family was given another tent by the Red Cross after the torching incident. (AFP)
The ICJ concluded its hearings concerning the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. A listing of those who had made oral statements and a video archive of the hearings was made available at the ICJ web site. (ICJ press release 2004/12, www.icj-cij.org)
The ICJ hearings on the separation barrier concluded with the arguments presented by the representatives of the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). At the close of the proceedings, Presiding Judge Shi Jiuyong said that “a date and time for the Court to announce its rulings” would be set later. The Arab League’s chief counsel Michael Bothe said, “The wall being constructed in the Palestinian occupied territories presents separation, leads to discrimination … and destroys real prospects for a fair and lasting peace.” OIC counsel Monique Chemillier-Gendreau said suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel should not be viewed in a vacuum. “They have to be linked to the far more bloody terror by Israel against Palestinians since its founding.” Michael Tarazi, legal adviser to the PLO, said he was confident that the judges “will do their job and apply international law.” He added that Israel’s decision to boycott the case showed “they do not have a case worth defending.” (AFP, AP, The Guardian, Ma’ariv, The Washington Post)
The US State Department’s annual Human Rights Report stated the IDF used excessive force in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in confrontations with Palestinian demonstrators or pursuing suspects. The report said Israeli troops obstructed medical assistance to Palestinian civilians at roadblocks, carried out systematic demolitions of houses and imposed strict curfews and closures that directly punished innocent civilians. Israel’s human rights record in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2003 “remained poor and worsened in the treatment of foreign human rights activists,” the report stated. It also said Israeli security forces had killed at least 573 Palestinians and one foreign national and had injured 2,992 Palestinians and others during the year, including bystanders. Israel had assassinated at least 44 Palestinians, many of whom were terrorists or suspected terrorists, but also 47 innocent bystanders, including children. The report also criticized the human rights situation in the areas under the Palestinian Authority. (Ma’ariv, www.arabicnews.com, www.state.gov, www.voanews.com)
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At least three Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli fire during a demonstration against a section of the separation barrier in the village of Beit Ijza, near Jerusalem. Two were identified as Mohammed Rayan, 25, fatally hit by a bullet in his spine and Zakaria Eid, 28, killed by a bullet to his chest, medics said. Some 60 demonstrators were injured during the protest. Israeli Arab MK Azmi Bishara said Israeli troops had treated Palestinians demonstrating against the separation barrier as if they were repressing “a mutiny in a concentration camp.” “We have learned today that the barrier is lethal,” he said. Mr. Bishara had also participated in mass anti-barrier demonstrations in The Hague during the three-day ICJ hearings. (AFP, Albawaba.com, Ma’ariv, Reuters)
At the Erez Beit Hanoun border crossing in the Gaza Strip, two Palestinians killed an Israeli reservist. The gunmen were killed after an exchange of fire lasting several minutes. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for what they called a “martyrdom operation.” The early-morning attack wounded other Israelis, according to an Israeli security source. The IDF closed down the checkpoint, an entry point for Palestinian labourers working in Israel. (AFP, Albawaba.com, Ha’aretz, Reuters)
Israeli army jeeps blocked entry to PA President Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah, the muqataa. Israeli security forces said soldiers were on a routine arrest mission that had not been directed at the headquarters. Palestinian witnesses said troops had checked the identity of people entering and leaving the compound. A man was killed by Israeli troops after throwing a Molotov cocktail near the muqataa. Israel Radiosaid one Palestinian had been arrested. Mr. Arafat’s security adviser Jibril Al-Rajoub said, “What’s happening … is a message to the world that this [Israel] Government's … aim is to hurt Palestine and to attack the Palestinian people in their struggle.” Israeli security said there had been an exchange of fire with a gunman from a building adjacent to the muqataaand Palestinians said nobody on their side had fired at the Israelis. (Albawaba.com, Reuters)
The IDF overnight arrested 14 Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. (Ha’aretz)
PA Prime Minister Qureia accused Israel of “robbery” and of trying to destroy the PA. He said, “After targeting Palestinian cities and villages, Israel now aims at destroying the Palestinian Authority by destroying its banking system. This is a very dangerous thing and a blatant violation. We consider this act a robbery and therefore demand the money back. We have worked hard to keep a stable banking system.” Mr. Qureia met with bank directors for a review. (DPA, Middle East Online)
The Head of the Palestine Monetary Authority, Amin M. Haddad, accused Israel of armed robbery after troops seized over US$8 million from banks in Ramallah. “What happened yesterday was a blunt, unjustified, ungrounded daylight theft at gunpoint by the Israeli army.” Mr. Haddad said Israeli forces had singled out 400 institutional, charity and individual accounts, commandeering vaults, counting out money and putting what they wanted into bags for removal. A large number of accounts had been cleaned out, he said. Two affected institutions were Gaza’s Islamic University and the Zakat Committees, a group overseeing small donations to the poor required of every Muslim. “What the Israelis are looking for is chaos. [Our] people have a lot of doubts, thousands of questions,” he said. (AFP, Deutsche Welle, Reuters)
Jordan condemned the “unprecedented” Israeli raid on Palestinian branches of Jordanian and other banks and the seizure of millions of dollars, Government spokesperson Asma Khodr said. “The Jordanian Government strongly condemns this raid unprecedented in banking annals which violates international regulations on the preservations of bank secrecy,” she said. She expressed the astonishment and anxiety of the Jordanian Government that Israeli soldiers had burst into the premises of the Arab Bank and the Cairo-Amman Bank, two Jordanian banks which had been raided along with the International Palestinian Bank in Ramallah. Jordan’s Labour Minister Amjad Majali, speaking for Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher, who was in Morocco, told the press that Amman “is closely following this dangerous affair.” “The Israeli Government is responsible for the safeguard of bank accounts and registers and the rights of customers,” he said. (AFP)
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Terje Rød-Larsen said the PA would be prepared to shoulder part of the outlay for construction of the separation barrier if the barrier’s route was identical to the pre-1967 armistice line. Mr. Larsen, who had just met with PA Prime Minister Qureia, reported the Palestinian offer to Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupuliansky. Mr. Larsen said Mr. Sharon’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip should lead to a meeting with Mr. Qureia that would deal with coordinating the withdrawal and future cooperation following its completion. He emphasized that Mr. Sharon’s plan was a positive development requiring the Palestinians to crack down on terror. However, Mr. Sharon’s office said the disengagement plan would not be coordinated with the Palestinians. Mr. Sharon’s Bureau Chief Dov Weissglas had met the day before with his Palestinian counterpart Hassan Abu Libden in an attempt to arrange a meeting between the two Prime Ministers. While the meeting was described as “positive and constructive,” they were unable to set up such a meeting. (Ma’ariv)
Labour MK Shimon Peres said no one was opposed to the wall Israel was building in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Even the Palestinians [are] for the wall. Nobody is against the wall. It is not a wall, it’s a fence,” he said after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. Mr. Peres said the only problem with the wall was where it was being built. “The problem is the line, the orbit of the fence,” he said. He said the Government was currently “correcting the line.” “We hope that they correct it fully so that there will be a change and so the line will be only for security measures without any political indications,” he said. Mr. Peres also said the Israeli decision for a possible unilateral withdrawal from Gaza was “very, very serious”, adding that since 1967 Israeli Governments had wasted US$60 billion of public funds on “territories we will not stay in.” (DPA, Ha’aretz)
Israel's High Court of Justice rejected a bid by Jewish settlers to stop the dismantling of outposts in the West Bank. The Court gave the “green light” to orders issued by the Israeli military in the West Bank to pull down a number of outposts, notably those of “Hazon David” and “Tal Benyamin.” (AFP)
A group of Labour MKs met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and senior Egyptian officials. The Labour delegation included MKs Shimon Peres, Ophir Pines, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Amram Mitzna, and Dalia Itzik. Among the Egyptian participants were General Omar Suleiman (head of Egyptian intelligence services), Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, former ambassador to Israel Muhammad Bassiouny, and special adviser to President Mubarak Osama El-Baz. It was reported that Egyptian officials had told Mr. Peres Egypt was willing to accept an Israeli withdrawal from the Rafah sector, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip along the Egyptian border. Following a private meeting with Mr. Mubarak, Mr. Peres said he believed Israel could receive Egyptian guarantees of security responsibility for the Rafah border area “as long as the withdrawal from Gaza would be considered only as a first step, the withdrawal from Gaza would be complete, and all moves would be coordinated with the Palestinians and the Egyptians.” “There is a major chance,” as for the first time both right and left in Israel had said there was no solution but two separate States for Israelis and Palestinians, according to Mr. Peres. “This is new. There is a major chance that we must not miss,” he stressed. (AFP, BBC, Ma’ariv)
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A suicide bomber blew himself up near an IDF outpost close to the “Kfar Darom” settlement in the Gaza Strip. The bomber was killed, and no other injuries were reported in the incident. (Ha’aretz)
Israeli police stormed the square outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque to confront stone-throwing Palestinians. Police spokesman Gil Kleiman said they had fired rubber bullets and tossed stun grenades after hundreds of Muslim worshippers “started rioting” at the end of Friday prayers near the Al-Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount). Director of the Islamic Waqf Adnan Husseini said, “There was no provocation for such an Israeli attack. This is despicable and unacceptable.” Four Palestinian demonstrators and three police officers were lightly injured. (Albawaba.com, The Guardian, IBA, Ma’ariv, Reuters)
Witnesses said the IDF had used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse some 50 stone-throwers in Bethlehem, near Rachel’s Tomb. Near the village of Qibya, outside Ramallah, the army also used tear gas to break up a demonstration that featured stone-throwing. (Reuters)
The IDF destroyed two houses in Bethlehem belonging to two members of the Islamic Jihad. The two, identified as Hassan Abu Sireh and Ibrahim Jundieh, had allegedly helped plan the suicide bombing of a Jerusalem bus in January 2002. But relatives of Mr. Sireh said he had been shot dead by Israeli troops in June 2001 after killing an Israeli intelligence officer near Bethlehem. His home in Bethlehem’s Azza refugee camp housed five people. Mr. Jundieh, according to his family, was currently in an Israeli jail. His house, home to 10 people, was in Bethlehem’s Aida refugee camp. (AFP)
Israeli forces, reportedly uncovering a tunnel used by Palestinian militants for attacks on the Gaza Strip boundary, razed at least 120 Palestinian-owned shops nearby. Two army bulldozers backed by four tanks ploughed through a cluster of buildings leading up to the Erez Beit Hanoun crossing after giving shopowners a summary notice to evacuate. An IDF spokesman said the stores had concealed a 60-metre tunnel discovered under the Erez Industrial Zone, which employed some 3,000 Gaza workers. Dozens of Palestinian youths threw stones at the Israeli forces, and troops fired in the air to disperse them. One boy was wounded by Israeli fire, medics said. There was no immediate assessment of the full cost of the damage. (Reuters)
Palestinians fired two mortar rounds at the “Neve Dekalim” settlement in the Gaza Strip. A house was damaged, but no casualties were reported. The house was hit by an Al-Batar rocket, a more advanced version of the Al-Qassam rocket. In Hebron, IDF troops detained two members of Hamas. In a village near Hebron, six Palestinians said to be in possession of arms and ammunition were arrested. (IBA)
The Fatah Revolutionary Council concluded its closed three-day session. PA President Arafat had opened the session on 25 February with a speech stressing the need for new elections of the Fatah leadership and renewed efforts at breaking the current stalemate in the peace process. “Security and peace are not only a Palestinian interest but an Israeli interest. Our option is peace and we will work for this goal … There is [also] the need to bring new blood into Fatah based on democratic steps,” Mr. Arafat told the Council. Also on the agenda was the possibility of organizing a conference aimed at imbuing Fatah with a new direction. (AFP, Ha’aretz)
Jordan's Central Bank Governor Omaya Tuqan said the Israeli raid on Palestinian branches of Jordanian banks and seizure of millions of dollars had been in violation of the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, which “specifies that there should be no harm to Jordanian interests.” Israel had confiscated US$670,000 from the Cairo-Amman Bank, according to the head of the bank in Amman, Yazeed Mufti. He also said the Bank's management had called for help from the Palestinian financial authorities and the Central Bank of Jordan to recover the money. (AFP)
In Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, whose country held the EU Presidency, presented to his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom the five points that European foreign ministers had agreed on in relation to Prime Minister Sharon’s disengagement plan. They were: (1) the plan must be in keeping with and complementary to the Road Map; (2) disengagement should lead to the implementation of the vision of two States – Israel and Palestine – existing side by side in peace and security; (3) the EU objected to the transfer of settlers from the Gaza Strip to bolster settlements in the West Bank; (4) disengagement should be carried out with the agreement of the PA and should be coordinated with it, rather than a unilateral move; and (5) Israel should facilitate the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip after withdrawal. Mr. Cowen asked Mr. Shalom about the possible stationing of an international force in Gaza after the withdrawal. Mr. Shalom rejected the idea, saying it would internationalize the conflict. Mr. Cowen was to travel to Washington the following week to participate in the meeting of the diplomatic Quartet. (Ha’aretz)
“We are concerned by reports of clashes at these revered holy sites,” a statement from the US State Department said in answer to an earlier question from a journalist on the incident in Jerusalem earlier in the day. “We are in touch with the parties on the ground to encourage calm and to prevent any escalation of the situation.” (DPA)
Two Israelis from “Livna,” an Israeli settlement on the Green Line, were killed on a road near the West Bank in the evening. The Ahmed Jibril Brigades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) claimed responsibility in a statement received in Gaza City. Israel Army Radiosaid that the settlers’ car had been hit with automatic weapons fire before the assailants approached and killed Eitan Kukoi and his wife Rima Novikov at point-blank range. The attack took place just outside the West Bank, near Kibbutz Lahav, some 20 km from Hebron. (AFP, The Jerusalem Post)
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An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a car in a densely populated neighbourhood between Gaza City and the Jabaliya refugee camp, killing three Islamic militants and wounding 15 people, three of whom were in critical condition. The military said it believed the men were transporting explosives in the car. The wounded included three children, one of whom was described as “clinically dead.” Islamic Jihad identified the three men killed in the strike as Mahmoud Judah (Jouda), a field commander of the group’s military wing, Ayman Dahdouh and his cousin Amin Dahdouh, a supporter but not a member of the group. Mr. Judah had survived a similar Israeli assassination attempt in 2002, Islamic Jihad officials said. In a statement, Israel’s military said the strike’s main target, Mr. Judah, had directed many attacks on Israelis, including one in October 2003, when two gunmen had killed three Israeli soldiers as they slept in their barracks in the “Netzarim” settlement. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this Israeli crime of assassination and targeting of very crowded civilian areas,” Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erakat said. Some 30,000 mourners attended the subsequent funeral. Islamic Jihad leader Abdallah al-Shami vowed to avenge the attack, saying in a memorial service in a Gaza mosque: “The coming days will be the blackest days in Israel’s history.” (AP, DPA, Reuters)
An IDF jeep entered the village of Beit Umrin, 20 km north of Nablus, just as the school day finished and a group of children began throwing stones at them. The soldiers opened fire, hitting a 10-year-old boy in the head. He was taken to Rafidiyeh hospital in Nablus, where medics said his condition was serious. (AFP, AP)
The mayor of Beit Hanoun, Ibrahim Hamid, estimated the damage from an IDF demolition operation the previous day of some 120 Palestinian-owned shops on the Gaza-Israel boundary to be more than US$1 million. The demolition had left more than 400 Palestinians jobless. More than 80 shops near the Erez Industrial Zone had been levelled completely and dozens had been partially destroyed. “We need urgent help for these people. They did not do anything,” said Mr. Hamid. (Reuters)
Director of Prime Minister Sharon’s Bureau Dov Weissglas and senior security adviser Giora Eiland left for Washington to seek US support for unilateral steps in the West Bank and Gaza should the Road Map fail. The Israeli envoys were expected to pave the way for a visit by Mr. Sharon to the White House in late March. (AP, Reuters)
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Two Palestinians were killed in West Bank clashes with Israeli forces. IDF soldiers entered the Balata refugee camp next to Nablus and traded fire with militants, killing Mohammed Zuheir Oweis, 23, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. A few hours later, during Mr. Oweis’ funeral, another clash erupted and a second Palestinian, Iyad Abu Shalal, 22, was killed. An Israeli military source said that Mr. Shalal had been targeted as he opened fire on forces in the area. Security officials said he had been involved in the ambush that wounded seven Jewish worshippers returning from an unauthorized visit to a holy site in Nablus in December 2003. (AFP)
Israeli police said it had arrested three Palestinian boys who said they were on their way to carry out an attack in Israel. The incident had occurred on 26 February when Israeli forces arrested three youths from the village of Tubas, near Nablus, as they tried to cross a checkpoint with homemade guns, Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman said. The boys said they planned to shoot people in Afula. Relatives said the boys, Jaffar Dababaat, 12, Tarek Abu Mahsen, 13, and Ibrahim Suafta, 15, left behind letters indicating they did not expect to return alive from their mission and that they wanted to strike a blow against the barrier Israel was building in the West Bank. The note identified Tarek as a member of Islamic Jihad and the other two as members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. “My son doesn’t know how to write such a letter and never belonged to any groups. Someone older wrote this letter for him,” said Tarek’s mother, Amira Abu Mahsen. “That’s absolutely unacceptable,” said PA Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erekat. “Our children should have hope and a future and should not be suicide bombers. We want them to be doctors and engineers.” (AFP, AP)
An Israeli military court found an IDF officer guilty of negligence in the killing of Mohammed Ali Zeid, 16, who was studying in his house when he was hit by a bullet on 4 October 2002. A statement from the military spokesman’s office said the officer, said by Israeli media to be a captain, had fired at a wall to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators in the village of Nizlat Zaid, near Jenin, and that the bullet had gone through a window, hitting Mr. Zeid, who later died from his injuries. The court found “clear negligence” in the officer’s behaviour, the statement said, adding: “Although the accused had to act swiftly and under pressure, there was no danger to his life or to that of his peers during the shooting, and the use of live ammunition was done with too much haste.” The officer’s identity was not disclosed and sentencing was postponed until a later time. (AFP, AP, Ha’aretz, Palestine Media Centre)
Israel’s High Court of Justice issued a restraining order suspending work on a section of the separation barrier north-west of Jerusalem where two Palestinian protesters had been killed the week before. The Supreme Court issued its order in response to a request from the Popular Committee against the Wall. Some 30 Israelis from the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion joined the petition, organizers said. Mohammed Dahla, a lawyer for the Committee, told the Court this section of the barrier would imprison 30,000 Palestinians in eight towns and villages. A single gate would allow them to exit the area, effectively cutting them off from both Jerusalem and nearby Ramallah. “There is no reason … to cut these residents off from their community, from their society,” Mr. Dahla said. “You can’t just enclose people in corrals.” The order, which was to remain in force for a week, allowed the Court to examine appeals presented by residents of eight Palestinian villages against the construction of the barrier on their land. Defence Minister Mofaz, who visited the site the same day, criticized the Court’s decision, saying that “any judicial delay will give a suicide bomber the chance to enter Israeli territory.” Reserve General Uzi Dayan, head of a group lobbying for rapid construction of the barrier as close as possible to the Green Line, said it was disingenuous for the likes of Mr. Mofaz to blame the Court for delays: “The Government is responsible for the delays in the construction of the fence and not the Supreme Court, whose decision concerns just 1 per cent of the total length.” Mr. Dayan said the Government must take responsibility for the fact that only 25 km out of the 75 km section around Jerusalem had been built so far. (AFP, AP)
Defence Minister Mofaz said the defence establishment hoped to start the construction of the separation barrier in the south by the end of 2004. It had not yet been expected to be quicker and less controversial since the Green Line would be followed very closely there. It was not yet decided what to do with the “Telem,” “Adora,” and “Negohot” settlements west of Hebron. (The Jerusalem Post)
In an interview with Al-Hayat,Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Amre Moussa said an Israeli pullout from Gaza “must be towards Israel and not a transfer from Gaza to the West Bank.” The plan must not aim to “transfer settlers to the West Bank” or redirect funds there, he was quoted as saying. (AFP)
The Fatah Revolutionary Council (FRC) “calls the Government of Israel to an immediate and mutual ceasefire,” WAFA quoted it as saying in a statement. It reaffirmed “Fatah’s opposition in principle to attacks aiming at Palestinian and Israeli civilians, as well as assassinations, raids and the destruction of homes.” Despite reports of the dissolution of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades which had circulated during the meeting, the final statement did not mention it. It renewed “Fatah’s commitment in favour of a peace based on international resolutions, Arab summit resolutions, the vision of President Bush and the Road Map” and called on Israel to “resume the peace negotiations, to stop its incursions and its occupation of autonomous Palestinian territories and to relaunch security coordination” with the Palestinians. The FRC also appealed to the international community “to become more involved in constraining Israel to put an end to its occupation and come back to the negotiating table.” The three-day meeting, which started on 25 February, was the FRC’s first in more than three years and was aimed at modernizing the organization. On internal matters, the FRC had formed a committee grouping the Central Committee and other members of the Revolutionary Council, charged with preparing the sixth general conference within the next 12 months. The last general conference had been held in Tunis in August 1989. A second committee was made responsible for ensuring that reforms were carried out. (AP)
Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister and head of the Saudi delegation to the meetings of Foreign Ministers of an Arab follow-up committee that concluded in Cairo, said they had agreed that the Committee should revive the Road Map within the framework of rallying support for the Arab peace initiative and convincing other peace-loving countries. (Saudi Press Agency)
A Palestinian trade centre, Paltrade, was inaugurated in Jordan, the first of its kind outside the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It came on the fringes of a conference organized by Jordan, the Islamic Development Bank, the Palestinian Authority and the Paltrade Group to discuss ways to promote trade contacts between the Palestinian territories and its neighbours. “The centre represents a symbol of the Palestinian resistance and an emergence from the state of blockade,” said Mohammad Al-Halaiqa, Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry. “It also reflects the deep ties between the Jordanian and the Palestinian people.” A statement issued by the organizers said the centre would focus on building alternative marketing channels for Palestinian firms wishing to enter the Arab and Muslim markets. Paltraide, a non-profit Palestinian group that gathered several firms representing the main industrial sectors in the territories, had been founded in 1998 to improve the performance of private sector trading. (AP)
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Document Type: Chronology
Document Sources: Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR)
Subject: Palestine question
Publication Date: 29/02/2004