Chronological Review of Events/February 2001 – DPR review

16

D i v i s i o n    f o r    P a l e s t i n i a n    R i g h t s

Chronological Review of Events Relating to the

Question of Palestine

Monthly media monitoring review

February 2001

 1

Likud leader Ariel Sharon told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that his conditions for peace in the Middle East were: firstly, Israeli sovereignty over the whole of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount (Al-Haram al-Sharif); secondly, an Israeli eastern security zone in the Jordan Valley, including the Dead Sea; thirdly, no return of Palestinian refugees to Israeli territory; fourthly, no Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights; and lastly, no transfer to the Palestinians of an area in the Negev desert in compensation for Israeli-occupied Palestinian areas.  He added that Israel had recognized the right of Arabs and Palestinians to self-determination and it was time for them to recognize the same right for Israel.  (AFP, Reuters)

Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian men in separate incidents near the Karni crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Israel.  An Israeli man was shot dead near Jenin.  (AFP, DPA)

Prime Minister Barak had decided not to attend a summit with Chairman Arafat before the Israeli election, a senior Israeli official said.  Israeli public radio reported that Mr. Barak’s decision followed the killing of an Israeli civilian near Jenin earlier in the day.  (AFP)

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Swedish Prime Minister and European Council president Goran Persson expressed the hope that it would be possible for the Israeli and the Palestinian sides to return to the negotiating table soon after the 6 February election in Israel.  A statement issued by the UN spokesman after telephone talks between Messrs Annan and Persson, added that the two had encouraged the parties to continue the peace process on the basis of the progress made at Taba.  The UN Secretary-General and the Prime Minister of Sweden also urged the parties to implement outstanding agreements, including the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings, and to refrain from actions that might provoke further violence.  They expressed their readiness and commitment to assist the peace process in any way possible.  (AFP, DPA, Reuters, XINHUA)

 2

Prime Minister Barak called for “a separation from the Palestinians” in order to safeguard Israeli citizens, following the killing of a second Israeli on 1 February.  The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office added that efforts would be made for this to be achieved within the framework of an agreement, but if that did not prove possible the Israeli side would perform what was described as “an initiated and staggered security disengagement”.  (AFP)

Israel decided to impose restrictions on the movement of Palestinians along roads, which had been the focus of shooting incidents against Israeli motorists, Israel Radio reported.  The decision was taken at a meeting Prime Minister Barak held with senior army officers and security officials.  The army’s Central Command, covering the West Bank, was tasked with formulating rules, under which Palestinians could travel on specific roads only via public transportation.  Israel Radio later reported that IDF had decided to encircle all major Palestinian towns in the West Bank, with the exception of Jericho and Qalkilya, and prevent the Palestinians from exiting them.  IDF would also erect concrete blocks on side roads leading to main West Bank arteries, to prevent Palestinians from reaching those roads.  The “Gush Etzion” settlement block, between Bethlehem and Hebron, would be closed completely to Palestinian private vehicles.  Palestinians would be able to travel on roads in the area only on buses and other forms of public transportation.  An IDF spokeswoman said exceptions would be made for humanitarian cases and journalists.  (DPA, Reuters, The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition)

Two Palestinians in a car passing near the “Netzarim” settlement in central Gaza Strip were wounded by Israeli army gunfire, Palestinian hospital sources said.  Separately, Mohammed Akawi told AFP that the Israeli army had demolished his house to open up a road to the settlement of “Dugit” in the northern West Bank.  (AFP)

 4

Israeli bulldozers, backed by tanks and soldiers, moved in before dawn and razed six Palestinian houses, two petrol stations, a workshop and orchards located between the “Netzarim” settlement and the Karni crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Israel.  Hussein Thabet, whose house was among those destroyed, said 64 people, including five brothers and their wives and children, had been made homeless.  The PA condemned what it said was an Israeli army incursion into areas officially under full Palestinian control.  PA Public Security Chief Abdel-Razek Al-Majaydeh said this was “a shameful act of a brutal occupation force”, adding that Palestinian police would prevent further attempts by Israeli troops to enter Palestinian-controlled areas.  IDF spokesman Olivier Rafowicz stated that “these measures have been taken in an effort to reduce the possibility for terrorists to hide behind houses”.  (AFP, Reuters, The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition)

Shadi Kahlout, a 24-year-old Palestinian from the Al-Bureij refugee camp, was killed by Israeli troops at the Kissoufim border point, allegedly as he was trying to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip. (AFP, Reuters, XINHUA)

A small group of settlers occupied a hilltop belonging to a Palestinian family near the village of Khader, close to Bethlehem, Palestinian witnesses said.  (Reuters)

5

A 13-year-old Palestinian boy was seriously wounded during stone-throwing clashes near the Karni crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel.  (AFP, Reuters)

In the wake of renewed violence in the Gaza Strip and following the killing of an Israeli soldier near the Rafah refugee camp, Israel ordered the closure of Gaza International Airport and of the Rafah crossing to Egypt.  (DPA, Reuters)

About a dozen young Jewish settlers reoccupied the “Havat Maon” settlement outpost southeast of Hebron, which had been dismantled by the army more than a year ago.  Prime Minister Barak warned that the IDF would “act forcefully against any violation of the law and against any attempt to create facts on the ground during the election period”.  (Reuters)

A 65-year-old Palestinian woman suffering from heart problems died on the way to the Qalqilya hospital after delays at three Israeli army checkpoints, her son and medical officials said.  (Reuters)

Ha’aretz reported that the US State Department, as part of its annual survey of human rights violations, had submitted to the Israeli Foreign Ministry a list of names of Palestinians along with the dates they had been killed, asking for information on the circumstances of their killings.  Additional US questions concerned other aspects of Israeli actions against Palestinians, such as curfews imposed on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, sieges of Palestinian towns, arrests of Palestinians and excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians.  The US Government rejected Israel’s argument that it should postpone publication of the section of the report dealing with the Palestinians, on the grounds that its release could prejudice the results of the investigation carried out by the Fact-Finding Committee.  (Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition)

The World Council of Churches (WCC) called on its 342 member churches to support an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories in the Middle East.  Injustice and discrimination against the Palestinians must be condemned in stronger terms, said a resolution adopted by the 158-member governing WCC Central Committee, meeting in Potsdam, near Berlin.  The Central Committee expressed “deep regret and serious concern about the latest escalation of violence in the autonomous Palestinian and occupied territories and in Israel” and criticised Israel's “disproportionate use of military force”.  “We share the frustration and the disappointment of our Palestinian sisters and brothers”, the resolution said. (DPA)

6

Likud leader Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister of Israel with 62.2 per cent of the vote to Mr. Barak’s 37.4 per cent. (Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition, Reuters)

7

Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon received a congratulatory letter on his election victory from Chairman Arafat.  A spokeswoman for Mr. Sharon quoted Chairman Arafat as saying that he hoped this year would be “the year of the peace of the brave, in the interest of all of the peoples and countries in the region”.  (AFP, The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition)

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan congratulated Mr. Sharon upon his election as Prime Minister of Israel and expressed the hope that the new Government would continue the search for peace in the Middle East, building on the progress achieved so far.  The Secretary-General called on all sides to exercise restraint and to spare no effort to end the violence, and reiterated his readiness to assist the peace process.  (UN newservice)

Following Mr. Sharon’s electoral victory, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Terje Rød-Larsen said in an interview with Reuters in Jerusalem that the talks between Israelis and Palestinians should be immediately resumed “on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions and the points reached between the parties in their negotiations”.  Mr. Rød-Larsen warned that without peace the security situation would deteriorate and there could even be “regional spillover”.  He added that the closure on the Occupied Palestinian Territory should be lifted as it was “massively counterproductive” and warned of a possible collapse of PA institutions resulting in “anarchy and chaos” if the closure and related policies continued.  (Reuters)

Israel eased the tight closure imposed for the prime ministerial election on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Palestinian security and Israeli army officers said.  The Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Israel was opened to Palestinian workers with permits.  Commercial traffic was allowed through the Karni crossing.  (AFP)

In a declaration issued on behalf of the European Union, the Presidency of the Union congratulated Prime Minister-elect Sharon on his electoral victory and expressed the hope that he would “keep the momentum of the peace process”.  Moreover, it stated that future talks should be conducted on the basis of the progress made on all major issues during the last negotiations, while both the talks and a just and lasting peace should be based on Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and other relevant UN resolutions and principles such as the inadmissibility of acquiring territory by war, the need for every State in the region to be able to live in security and “land for peace”.  The declaration reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to assist the parties in their endeavours to reach a peace agreement as well as in its subsequent implementation.  (EU press release 5925/01 – Presse 44 – G)

In a statement issued after a weekly Cabinet meeting in Gaza under Chairman Arafat, the Palestinian Authority called on the new Israeli Government to resume negotiations from the point previously left off and on the basis of the “land for peace” formula, implementation of international resolutions and the Palestinian right to a State with Jerusalem as its capital.  (AFP, Reuters)

8

President Bush and Chairman Arafat had their first telephone conversation.  White House spokeswoman Mary Ellen Countryman said President Bush had reiterated the US support for a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians and had urged Chairman Arafat to help stop the violence and calm the situation.  Chairman Arafat’s senior advisor Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the two leaders had agreed to continue their contacts in the future and Chairman Arafat had told President Bush that the Palestinians were committed to the peace process and the peace agreements signed with Israel.  (AFP, DPA, Reuters)

Prime Minister-elect Sharon’s diplomatic advisor Zalman Shoval said the new Israeli Government would not be bound by what had been discussed at Taba, as no agreement had been concluded.  Speaking to Israeli state radio, Mr. Shoval said the new Government would only honour the agreements signed between the Israelis and the Palestinians at Oslo in 1993, Wye Plantation in 1998 and Sharm el-Sheikh in 1999.  Moreover, the bridging proposals submitted by former US President Clinton did not commit the Israeli Government, he said.  (AFP, DPA, EFE)

In a statement, the League of Arab States urged Prime Minister-elect Sharon to continue the Middle East peace process and warned against ignoring what had been achieved so far and against taking further repressive measures against Palestinians.  The Arab League also asked the international community, especially the United States, Russia and the EU, to put pressure on Mr. Sharon to abide by signed agreements and understandings.  (XINHUA)

Parameters suggested for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by former president Clinton no longer constitute the outline of a US proposal to reach a Middle East peace deal, the State Department said.  “The ideas and parameters that were discussed in the last few months were president Clinton's parameters, and when he left office, they were no longer a US proposal or a presidential proposal”, spokesman Richard Boucher said.  Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Barak echoed the US statement, stating that the peace proposals raised by President Clinton would not be binding for the new Israeli Government.  Meanwhile, Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin criticized Mr. Barak for contending that the incoming Israeli Government did not have to honour concessions made to the Palestinians.  (AFP, The New York Times)

9

Violent clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, including a gunfight, left 29 injured, after a night of some of the worst fighting in weeks.  Israeli soldiers fired live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets at youths who threw stones at them after a protest march of some 1,500 people following afternoon prayers in Ramallah.  An intense gunfight between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers, who fired tank-mounted weapons took place near the Ayush junction north Ramallah for the first time there in six weeks.  Twenty-four Palestinians were injured in Ramallah, including eight who were shot with live rounds, hospital officials said. Similar clashes erupted in Qalqilya.  A 23-year old Palestinian was said to have been seriously injured after being shot in the head with a rubber bullet.  Also in Ramallah, Israeli soldiers shot a French photographer in the leg with live ammunition. (AFP, Reuters, DPA)

10

A commission of inquiry established by the UN Commission on Human Rights at its special session in October 2000 started its week-long visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  Its task was to investigate human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law, and to that end it was scheduled to visit Jerusalem, Gaza City, Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem and Beit Jala and to hold talks with Palestinian and Israeli officials and NGO representatives.  The commission’s report and recommendations would be submitted to the annual meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights, due to open its six-week-long session in Geneva on 19 March.  (AFP, Ha’arezt – English Internet Edition, Reuters)

Five Palestinians were wounded by Israeli army gunfire in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.  Three of them were shot during clashes in the Gaza Strip near the Karni crossing point into Israel, hospital sources said.  The other two were hurt during clashes in the village of Al-Khader, near Bethlehem.  (AFP)

11

Foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, and Saudi Arabia concluded a two-day Arab League meeting in Amman stating they would not be taken back to the starting point in the peace negotiations with Israel.  “We do not want to go back to the zero point and we do not want to be forced to do so,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Amre Moussa told reporters at a press conference at the end of the meeting.  (DPA)

Six Palestinians were wounded in clashes throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli military radio said.  (AFP)

12

Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Palestinians at army checkpoints, one in the village of Rafat, near Ramallah, the other in the village of Al-Khader.  A 13-year-old Palestinian boy was also shot in the stomach in the gunfight, which took place between the Israeli military base of “Ofer” and the village of Rafat.  (AFP, DPA)

Israeli bulldozers destroyed two Palestinian houses near the settlement of “Kfar Darom” in the Gaza Strip, leaving two Palestinian families homeless.  (Reuters)

Chairman Arafat said he had discussed the possibility of a 10th anniversary Madrid peace conference during his talks in Cairo with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.  (AFP)

13

Two Israeli helicopters fired rockets at a car near the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip, killing a Palestinian security officer and injuring four others.  The man killed was identified as Massoud Ayyad, 50, a senior Palestinian security officer and a member of Fatah.  The Palestinian side described the attack as an assassination, saying that the operation had been part of the Israeli policy of liquidating Palestinian security officers in an attempt to end the intifadah.  Israeli soldiers also shot dead a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in the Gaza Strip, officials at Gaza's Shifa hospital said.  They said the boy, Bilal Ramadan, was shot in the heart by a live bullet near the Karni crossing.  (AFP, DPA, Reuters, XINHUA)

The Israeli army seized a Palestinian police post near the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing on the Israel-Gaza border.  Heavy gunfire was exchanged throughout the day in several points across the Gaza Strip.  Israeli army fired tank shells at the Khan Younis refugee camp.  Hospital sources said three Palestinians had been hit by live bullets and at least 20 wounded by shrapnel.  (Reuters)

The Palestinian economy has suffered GDP losses of more than US$900 million since last September, according to a report presented in Gaza by Terje Rød-Larsen, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.  Palestinians also suffered losses of over US$240 million in unemployment, putting the total loss at more than US$1.1 billion or 20 per cent of the Palestinian Authority's projected GDP in 2000.  The report said each day of conflict with Israel cost the Palestinian economy US$8.6 million, and added to the hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the infrastructure.  Medical costs for some 11,000 injured Palestinians were mounting.  (DPA, Reuters)

Israel again ordered the closing the Gaza International Airport, citing security concerns, according to Salman Abu Halib, Director of the airport.  “The Israelis ordered us to close the airport indefinitely, arguing security reasons, one day after they gave us the green light to allow some 8,000 pilgrims from Gaza to make the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca,” he told AFP.  (AFP)

The Swedish Presidency of the European Union issued a declaration on extra-judicial killings of Palestinians.  The statement said, inter alia, that the EU deplored the practice of so-called “eliminations” or extra-judicial killings of Palestinians carried out by Israeli security forces.  The EU reiterated its strongly held opinion that Israel's policy in this regard was unacceptable and contrary to the rule of law.  The EU urged Israel to cease this practice and thus respect international law.  The EU believed that extra-judicial killings were an obstacle to peace and could provoke further violence.  (AFP, DPA, Reuters)

14

Prime Minister Barak ordered a full general closure of the Palestinian territory after eight Israelis had been killed by a Palestinian bus driver near Tel Aviv.  The measures affected in particular the border crossings with Jordan at the Allenby Bridge in the West Bank and with Egypt near Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip.  Mr. Barak's office said in a statement that the Prime Minister had “ordered a series of immediate steps in light of the attack, including the closing of Palestinian Authority international crossings, the cancellation of easings of the closure and complete enforcement of such, as well as additional steps”.  (AFP, Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition, The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition))

Israeli troops shot and killed a young Palestinian police officer Ayed Abu Harb, 24, near the village of Ramin, east of Tulkarm.  A statement issued by the Israeli army said the Israeli troops spotted a car with five armed Palestinians travelling on a road between the settlements of “Shavei Shomron” and “Homesh” in the northern West Bank.  According to Izz al-Deen al-Sharif, mayor of Tulkarm, Mr. Abu Harb was killed as he and other Palestinian police officers came under heavy fire from Israeli troops at the eastern entrance to the town, as they were trying to remove blocks and debris placed there in the past five months.  (AFP, DPA, The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition, Voice of Palestine, XINHUA)

15

Speaking on Jordan Radio, PA Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo called for the deployment of an international peace-keeping force to contain violence between Palestinians and Israelis.  “We believe that the best way out of this spiral [of violence] is the deployment of an international peacekeeping force across the Palestinian territories for the Palestinian people," Mr. Abed Rabbo said.  He added that such a request, made by the PA in the early stages of the Palestinian uprising, was still before the UN and that there had been no reply.  (AFP)

According to the PA Ministry of Finance Director-General Sami Ramlawi, the PA is “on the verge of bankruptcy”.  “Last month, we couldn't pay salaries and had to pay only a portion of them,” he said, adding that it would be difficult to find the US$44 million needed monthly to pay the PA staff.  (AFP)

The European Commission voiced concern at an “alarming” UNSCO report on economic conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  Commission officials said the issue would be raised with Ovadia Sofer, special envoy of Prime Minister-elect Sharon, who was to visit Brussels on 16 February.  (DPA)

The IDF was fortifying several outposts along the Tunnel Road connecting Jerusalem and the “Gush Etzion” settlement block, south of East Jerusalem.  Heavy equipment was being used to dig out and augment positions for tanks and other heavy weapons.  The barriers and fortifications, among them large concrete walls, would be placed at strategic segments of the road near the villages of Beit Jalla and Al-Khader.  (The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition)

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar told a press conference in Jerusalem that “there are currently no conditions conducive” to the convening of a second Madrid-type peace conference.  He said that a return to the Madrid framework had not come up in his meetings [with Messrs. Sharon, Barak and Ben-Ami].  Mr. Aznar made clear that – unlike the US and Israeli position that the ideas raised at Camp David and Taba were now off the table – he believed the negotiations should take up from where they left off.  It was necessary to “preserve what was achieved up until now,” he said.  (Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition, The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition)

16

European Commission President Romano Prodi and Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten met in Brussels with Ovadia Sofer, personal emissary of Prime-Minister-elect Sharon.  In a statement issued after the meeting, President Prodi and Commissioner Patten stressed the interest of the EU in working with Israel in the framework of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the Barcelona Process, as well as the Middle East peace process on the basis of a clear commitment to peace.  The hope was expressed that the parties would proceed on the basis of the progress already achieved.  President Prodi and Commissioner Patten expressed their deep concern over the spread of violence and appealed to both sides to undertake steps contributing to a de-escalation of the situation.  In addition, Messrs Prodi and Patten expressed great concern at the impact of the closure of Palestinian territories and the withholding of revenue payments due to the PA.  They signalled the willingness of the European Commission to continue supporting the PA in the context of a joint effort of the international community, including Israel.  (AFP, BBC, Reuters, European Commission press release DN: IP/01/220)

Twenty-six Palestinians were injured, at least six of them seriously, in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on yet another Friday "day of rage".  Near Ramallah, a gunfight erupted between the Palestinians and Israeli soldiers posted on the northern edge of the city.  The Israeli army fired with heavy weapons towards the Palestinians gunmen.  After the gunfight the Israeli troops began using live ammunition and shot three people, wounding two of them seriously, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.  The gunfight broke out after nine Palestinian stone-throwers had been injured when Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets at them, medical officials said.  In the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers shot fourteen Palestinians, injuring one seriously, according to medical officials.  The clashes broke out after the Israeli army had bulldozed five Palestinian houses in Rafah making dozens of residents homeless.  The army also destroyed several greenhouses and tore up a field.  Two Palestinians were shot dead during heavy exchanges of fire in Hebron, local hospital officials said.  Shaker al-Manasra, 25, died after being hit in the neck and Essam al-Tawil, 29, was killed after wounds to the stomach.  (AFP, Reuters)

Following is the text of a statement issued by the Office of the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General met this morning with Terje Rød-Larsen, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, for a general overview of the current situation in the region, including the rising level of violence.

The Secretary-General wishes to express his grave concern at the growing cycle of violence and counter-violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.  He appeals strongly to all concerned to prevent a further escalation of violence, which could have very serious consequences for the entire region.  He reiterates his call to the parties to exercise maximum restraint and caution, and to resume their dialogue in order to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.

Mr. Rød-Larsen briefed the Secretary-General on the impact of the conflict, border closures and other restrictions on the Palestinian economy and society.  These restrictive measures deprive the Palestinian Authority of necessary financial resources and aggravate the serious economic and social crisis in the occupied territories.  The Secretary-General is very concerned about the capacity of the Palestinian Authority to continue to function, and has raised this matter with Prime Minister-elect Sharon, as well as other international leaders, including United States Secretary of State Powell and European Commission President Prodi.  He has also instructed Mr. Rød-Larsen to undertake urgent consultations with a view to preventing such a destabilizing scenario. (UN Press Release, SG/SM/7718)

17

Exchanges of fire were reported in Hebron and more than 20 other locations in the Palestinian areas.  (AP)

AP reported that, according to PA Deputy Finance Minister Atef Allawneh, Israel's closure of the Palestinian areas, in effect since the outbreak of fighting last September, cost the Palestinian economy US$12 million a day in lost wages and trade.  Some 135,000 labourers, more than one-sixth of the labour force, could not reach their jobs in Israel.  Also, Israel has failed to transfer about US$250 million in taxes it had collected from Palestinian workers and traders, Mr. Allawneh said.  Unemployment has risen from 11 to 40 per cent, as some 260,000 Palestinians had lost their jobs since 28 September 2000, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported.  With a budget deficit of US$175 million, the PA has trouble covering its payroll of US$55 million a month for 130,000 employees.  January's salaries were paid in mid-February, but only after the PA borrowed from private banks and received emergency aid from foreign donors.  (AP)

18

In the West Bank, three Palestinians were wounded by shrapnel, one of them critically, after the Israeli army fired shells on the village of Al-Khader and the Dheisheh refugee camp, near Bethlehem.  Also, the army launched rockets at the Palestinian refugee camp of Aida, near Bethlehem.  No injuries were reported.  In the Gaza Strip, four Palestinians were wounded, two of them seriously, when Israeli forces fired shells and machine-guns near Rafah, hospital sources said.  They said another 10 were being treated after inhaling “poisonous gas”.  Three Palestinians were wounded when the Israeli army fired on the Khan Yunis refugee camp, to the north of Rafah, with heavy machine-guns, witnesses and hospital officials said.  According to the witnesses, the soldiers unleashed their guns after an exchange of fire between Palestinians and Israeli troops by the neighbouring Jewish settlement of “Neve Dekalim”.  As the fighting intensified, army tanks opened fire on several dwellings, wounding at least 50 Palestinians.  (AFP, EFE)

The UN inquiry commission established to “gather and compile information on the violation of human rights by Israel” said it had ended its inquiry.  The commission visited the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and met officials from the PA, as well as from Palestinian and Israeli NGOs.  The members of the commission did not meet with officials from the Israeli Government, according to Ha’aretz.  “We have found that there are problems and the situation is tense,” John Dugard, chairman of the inquiry commission said.  “There are problems coming out of the situation, with the use of force, closures and destruction of property.”  The commission would present its report to the UN Commission on Human Rights in March.  It was set up as a result of a special session of the Commission last October, which passed a resolution condemning Israel for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  Israel said it would not cooperate with the team as it objected to the language of that resolution.  “We decided not to cooperate with them based on the mandate that they had used as a basis for the visit”, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said, confirming that no Israeli official had met the commission.  (Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition)

Preliminary plans to build 1,000 homes in the “Gush Etzion” settlement block were approved by the Jewish Agency's Settlement Department, the first step in a process that still required the approval of Israel’s Defence Ministry and the Cabinet.  The plans related to several proposed projects, including the establishment of an Orthodox Union seminary and campus that would also contain housing for students and their parents from abroad who would want to live near their siblings, as well as a sports centre.  (The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition)

19

At least 10 Palestinians were wounded, one critically, when Israeli forces fired tank shells and heavy machine-guns in several parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials.  Israeli troops fired rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian youths who threw stones at them in protest of the army's shelling, which damaged two homes in the village of Al-Khader near Bethlehem.  Three of the stone-throwers were lightly injured, Palestinian medical officials said.  Three more Palestinians were also injured and four houses heavily damaged when the IDF fired anti-tank rockets at a building in the town of Beit Jalla in the West Bank, witnesses and hospital sources said.  (AFP)

Europe should boost its role in the Middle East peace process, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amre Moussa said in Rome, during a meeting with his Italian counterpart Lamberto Dini, the Italian new agency Ansa reported.  Mr. Moussa said that the rapidly expanding economic and social problems in the Palestinian territories could soon result in disaster, unless major progress was made in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.  (Reuters, XINHUA)

A quarter of Palestinians had lost their source of income because of violence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, according to a survey published by the Development Studies Programme at Birzeit University.  Reflecting economic hardships brought on by the violence and Israeli restrictions on movement, the survey found that 27 per cent of Palestinians lost all of their income, while the rest reported reduced earnings.  Nearly half said at least one family member had lost his/her job.  The survey interviewed 1,200 Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between 8 and 10 February, with a margin of error of 3 per cent.  The survey reported that 11 per cent of respondents said that at least one family member had been prevented from attending school or university.  Sixty per cent said a family member had partially lost access to education.  Eighty-four per cent of Palestinian households had to reduce their expenditures to cope with economic difficulties, the survey reported.  More than 55 per cent had to spend savings, while 43 per cent had to take loans.  Women in 31 per cent of households in the Gaza Strip said they had to sell their jewelry and wedding gifts.  (AP, Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition)

Mahmoud Al-Madani, 25, a leading Hamas activist, was killed, after being hit by three bullets in the chest apparently fired from an Israeli army post on a hilltop overlooking the Balata refugee camp near Nablus.  Mr. Madani was shot while walking to a mosque.  (AFP, AP, BBC, DPA, Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition)

Israel partially eased the closure of the Palestinian Territory and allowed basic food, medical and other humanitarian supplies to enter the Gaza Strip.  (AFP)

20

A 17-year-old student bystander was wounded in her hand and leg when Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets at Palestinian boys who were throwing stones at a Jewish settlement in Hebron.  (AFP)

The Israeli army demolished two houses under construction in the village of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.  (AFP, Reuters)

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) approved US$19 million in aid for Palestinians facing economic hardships.  The IDB said in a statement that the funds were part of US$300 million in financing approved by a meeting of the bank's council of executive directors in Jeddah on 19 February.  The council also authorised bank president, Ahmed Mohammed Ali, to approve projects worth up to US$10 million from a US$55-million package allocated last November in support of the intifadah, the statement added.  They include US$1 million in grants to help pay tuition fees for 9,600 university students, US$2 million in grants to furnish medical facilities in Palestinian areas and US$2.4 million in interest-free loans to build 20 grain silos in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  (Reuters)

In a further easing of the closure, the Palestinian oil authority said Israel had allowed entry of all fuel products.  Other officials said crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip had been partially reopened.  The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt was opened to allow entry only, while the Karni crossing into Israel was opened to allow all goods except construction materials, Palestinian officials said.  (AFP, The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition)

Under recently revised IDF rules of engagement, Israeli soldiers stationed at the “Netzarim” junction in Gaza were now allowed to fire warning shots at any Palestinian who approached the junction on foot at any time.  Similar rules of engagement applied to a few other points in Gaza.  The new rules had already been put to use at “Netzarim”.  On 19 February, Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian woman approaching the junction on foot, wounding her in the leg, and an IDF investigation concluded the soldiers had acted properly.  On 20 February, warning shots were fired at several stone-throwers near the junction.  (Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition)

Palestinian Minister of Planning and international Cooperation Nabil Shaath met US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington.  It was the first high-level meeting between an envoy of the Palestinian Authority and a representative of the new US administration.  Talks were reported to have focused on steps needed for Palestinians and Israelis to get back to the negotiating table.  (AFP, XINHUA)

Amnesty International condemned Israel’s policy of killing Palestinians suspected of plotting against its troops as “state assassinations” and its use of excessive force in the five months of violence.  Amnesty said that, during a recent visit to the area, its delegates had found that Israel had killed some people that it could have arrested, while in other cases it had used “excessive, random or negligent” force.  (AFP, Reuters, XINHUA)

An 18-year old Palestinian was killed, when Israeli forces fired tank shells at his home in Beit Jala and eight Palestinians were injured in two different shooting incidents.  (AFP, Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition, Reuters)

21

Palestinian National Council (PNC) Speaker Salim Za'noun announced that Chairman Arafat had given instructions to the head of the Palestine Observer Mission to the UN, Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, to prepare the steps needed to have Israel’s membership in the UN revoked, if Israel sustained its denial of Palestinian rights.  During a speech delivered at the Deir El-Balah refugee camp, Mr. Za'noun said the PLO was determined to challenge Israel’s UN membership, if Israel insisted on rejecting General Assembly resolution 194, which calls for the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and if it sustained its refusal to withdraw from the Palestinian territories.  He warned of the possibility of retracting from accepting Security Council resolution 242 as a basis for solving the conflict and of amending the Palestinian National Charter, if Israel continued to evade recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people. According to Mr. Za’anoun, the conflict might go back to square one and to General Assembly resolution 181, which stipulated giving the Palestinian people 45 per cent of the area of historical Palestine.  (AFP, Al-Quds)

On the eve of Secretary of State Powell’s visit to the region, the United States stepped up its calls for Israel to release millions of dollars in taxes owed to the PA.  UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Terje Rød-Larsen made a similar appeal, stating that the PA was on the verge of collapse because it would not have the money to pay civil servants and its security forces. Mr Rød-Larsen said: “The closure policy, which is the main cause of misery in Gaza and the West Bank, is colossally counterproductive to any security interests, including and most particularly, Israeli security interests”.  (AFP, Los Angeles Times, Reuters)

Israel asked the US to stop the activities of the international Fact-Finding Committee led by former US Senator George Mitchell. In a letter to Secretary of State Powell, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak stated that the existence of the Committee was not compatible with the reality of ongoing Palestinian violence. Mr. Barak's letter was coordinated with the advisors of Prime Minister-elect Sharon. Israel froze its cooperation with the Committee in the previous month, after the Committee's technical team toured Al-Haram al-Sharif without first coordinating the visit with the Israeli Government. (AFP, Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition)

22

Senior Israeli army officers urged that troops be sent into and secret operations by special forces be carried out within Zone A areas, that is Occupied Palestinian Territory areas under full Palestinian control, to prevent anti-Israeli attacks. (AFP, DPA, Ha’aretz – English Internet Edition, Jerusalem Post Internet Edition)

UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen appealed to donor countries in Amman for a US$37.2 million contribution to alleviate the suffering of the 575,000 Palestinian refugees living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip camps.  It was UNRWA’s second such appeal since the beginning of the intifadah in late September 2000.  Mr. Hansen noted that the destruction over the last five months, in physical, social and economic terms, had been greater than that under the first intifadah of 1987–1994.  He added that much of what had been achieved in the past was “slipping away”, as manifested through an increase in a variety of diseases and in the incidence of stillbirths, unemployment increase from 11 per cent to 40 per cent, the fact that half of the Gaza Strip population and one third of the West Bank population lived below the poverty line.  Mr. Hansen reminded the donors that this appeal was only a supplementary request and that the Agency’s budget faced a US$65 million deficit for 2001.  (AFP)

23

Outgoing Prime Minister Barak ordered the IDF to set up new outposts in the Gaza Strip, blocking the main road and effectively cutting the territory into two.  According to IDF statements, this came in response to attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers, including the detonation of two bombs, near the “Netzarim” and “Morag” settlements.  In response to the “Netzarim” bomb explosion, IDF razed agricultural land around the site of the blast and bulldozed two Palestinian police posts.  A 16-year-old Palestinian, Talal Hassan Abu Arida, was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers in Rafah, near the Gaza Strip border with Egypt.  During clashes in the village of Al-Khader, near Bethlehem, Israeli troops shot dead Mahmoud Hussein Mousa, 21 years of age; four other Palestinians were injured.  In Ramallah, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets at stone-throwers, injuring 36 Palestinians.  There were also minor clashes between stone-throwers and soldiers in Hebron.  (AFP, DPA, Reuters)

The Director-General of Israel’s national water carrier said the company did not have enough water to supply the needs of the Palestinian towns of Hebron, Bethlehem and Jenin.  Israel Radio reported he had told Israeli President Moshe Katzav that, due to low water levels in the southern West Bank, the wells were dry and he feared a hydrological problem would become a political one.  The report did not say what the situation was regarding the supply of water to Israeli settlements near the aforementioned Palestinian towns.  (DPA)

European Commission spokesman Reijo Kemppinen told a news briefing that the Palestinian Authority faced financial collapse and, in order to avert this, the Commission would press for a comprehensive international donors’ meeting to take place by mid-March in support of the Palestinian budget.  The EU had earmarked loans worth 90 million euros (about US$81.59 million) for 2001 to help the Palestinians sustain Israel’s economic blockade, but 30 million euros had already been paid out.  The Commission believed that the economic squeeze on the PA could greatly exacerbate the violence and political stalemate in the Middle East.  (Reuters)

After talks in Berlin with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Chancellor Schroeder’s foreign affairs advisor Michael Steiner, Zalman Shoval, foreign affairs advisor to Prime Minister-elect Sharon, said a definitive peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians was “probably not yet possible”.  Mr. Shoval, who arrived in Berlin after a visit to Washington earlier in the week, said President Bush’s Administration was of the same view on the matter.  He added that for “step-by-step” progress towards peace to be made, only one condition was necessary, that violence should stop, and he claimed that the responsibility for that lied in Chairman Arafat’s hands.  (AFP, DPA)

24

The IDF denied Palestinian accusations that it had attempted to assassinate Chairman Arafat’s deputy, Mahmoud Abbas, on 23 February, when several bullets penetrated his El-Bireh office during an exchange of gunfire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians at the Ayush junction north of Ramallah.  Mr. Abbas, who was out of the office at the time, said three bullets had struck his office and told reporters that he believed the Israeli gunfire had been directed at him.  Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin called Mr. Abbas to apologize personally over the incident, while expressing his certainty that there was no intention of hitting him.  (The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition)

25

In a joint news conference with Chairman Arafat after their meeting in Ramallah, Secretary of State Powell expressed his deep concern over the dire economic predicament of the Palestinians and the view that economic pressure led to overall deterioration of the situation, undermined relations between Israelis and Palestinians and did nothing to bring calm to the region.  Chairman Arafat called for negotiations with Israel to resume where they had left off, voicing his commitment to the peace process as a “strategic choice”.  (AFP)

En route to Kuwait, after he had met Prime Minister-elect Sharon and Chairman Arafat, Secretary of State Powell said his meetings had gone well but predicted it would be “some time” before peace talks resumed, as the parties were “still quite a bit apart”.  Mr. Powell also said he had heard from Mr. Sharon that he was going to do everything he could to reach out to the other side and get the violence down, whereas he expressed doubt that Chairman Arafat was exerting all of his authority to curb the violence.  (AFP)

The IDF announced that it was again allowing traffic to circulate throughout the Gaza Strip, reversing a main road closing imposed on 23 February.  The reopening was “due to increasing humanitarian cases and requests for safe passage between the two parts”.  The announcement came hours after the meetings Secretary of State Powell had held with Prime Minister-elect Sharon and Chairman Arafat.  (AFP, Reuters)

The 73rd session of the OAU Council of Ministers appealed to the UN to “protect the defenceless Palestinian people and lift the blockade they are subjected to by the Israeli army”.  In a “Declaration on the Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories”, the Council also called on Israel to “immediately stop the harassment and acts of massive repression perpetrated against the Palestinian people”, “conform with the principle of exchanging land for peace” and respect the right of the Palestinian people to a sovereign State, as contained in UN resolutions.  It further condemned the “massive and deliberate destruction of the Palestinian people’s economic infrastructure, as well as acts of sabotage such as dynamiting homes, property and farms”.  (Panafrican News Agency/Comtex Scientific Corporation)

Mohammed Al-Jilad, a 45-year-old Palestinian, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in Tulkarm.  (AFP)

26

Senior Israeli and Palestinian security officials met at the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip for the first time since Mr. Sharon’s electoral victory.  The Israeli delegation was headed by IDF Southern Command Chief Major-General Doron Almong, while the Palestinian delegation was headed by Gaza Public Security Chief Brigadier Abdel-Razeq al-Majaydeh.  The talks were aimed at restoring calm to the Gaza Strip after Israel had agreed to reopen several roads and junctions there.  (DPA, Reuters, XINHUA)

Speaking to business leaders at his ranch in southern Israel, Prime Minister-elect Sharon set out his three conditions for an end to the blockade of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  The conditions, which had been conveyed the previous day to Chairman Arafat through Secretary of State Powell, were: (a) a public statement by Chairman Arafat calling unequivocally for an end to violence; (b) Palestinian Authority action to stop incitement; (c) a renewal of security coordination in the field.  “If this is carried out, Israel will be able to allow raw materials to pass and also some labourers into Israel” a written statement issued at the ranch said.  (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister-elect Sharon said that large-scale joint economic projects could be the key to Middle East peace.  Outlining a plan for building a desalination plant with the Palestinians, Mr. Sharon said this was one of his ideas for building trust between the two sides before moving towards a final peace to end the conflict.  Mr. Sharon added that water was just one of several regional problems that could be solved cooperatively.  (Reuters)

The Secretary-General of the Jewish Settlers’ Council for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Shlomo Filber, told Israeli public radio that Chairman Arafat, whom he labelled a “terrorist”,  “must be liquidated and the apparatus he runs destroyed”.  Israeli Cabinet Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer condemned Mr. Filber’s statement.  (AFP, The Jerusalem Post – Internet Edition)

17-year-old Palestinian Hussam Emad Al-Disi died after being shot in the heart during fighting outside the Kalandia refugee camp between Ramallah and Jerusalem.  (AFP)

The UN World Food Programme handed out 50-kilogramme sacks of wheat flour to Palestinians who had lost their jobs due to Israel’s blockade.  The US$4 million operation that began in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, was aimed at giving assistance to 250,000 people over a three-month period.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also started, from the northern West Bank, implementation of a plan to bring soap, blankets and other relief materials to 60 Palestinian villages sealed off by the Israeli closure.  Kim Gordon-Bates, an ICRC spokesman, said the aim was not so much the distribution of the relief material but an effort to lift the closures, “which is in contradiction with the Fourth Geneva Convention that states that an occupying force has certain responsibilities to the people they are occupying”.  (AFP)

EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels called on Israel to lift its economic closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and said international donors must come up with emergency funds to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.  Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh told reporters that the EU would send a ministerial mission to Israel as soon as a new Government under Prime Minister-elect Sharon was in place.  EU Ministers pledged 60 million euros (approximately US$54 million) in emergency budgetary aid to the PA and External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said other donors would have to “dig deep in their pockets” to also help the Palestinians.  The EU Ministers called for a donors’ conference to be convened rapidly to raise additional funds and urged both sides in the Middle East conflict “to refrain from all acts of violence and return to the negotiation table”.  (AFP, DPA)

The US State Department’s annual report on human rights cited “numerous serious human rights abuses” perpetrated by Israeli security forces in 2000 and criticized Israel of using “excessive force” against Palestinians and Israeli Arab demonstrators, targeting Palestinian leaders for execution and allowing Israeli civilians, especially settlers, to attack Arabs unimpeded.  (DPA)

27

WFP representative Mushtaq Qureshi told a news conference in Gaza that hundreds of thousands of people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory had been “pushed into destitution” due to the resurgence of the conflict in the region and called for support for WFP’s emergency operation to assist the estimated 250,000 Palestinians who had fallen below the poverty line since the beginning of the intifadah.  Mr. Qureshi said these people were really suffering and could not afford to buy even basic commodities, as they had exhausted their savings and the breadwinners of the families concerned have lost their jobs due to the Israeli closure.  WFP had managed to find 50 per cent of the needed aid to support these people and was appealing to several donor countries to cover the remaining 50 per cent.  (DPA)

Israel allowed relief goods for Palestinians across the Rafah border post with Egypt for the first time since the 6 February election.  Egyptian security sources said 15 ambulances donated by Saudi Arabia and several trucks full of Egyptian relief goods began crossing into the Gaza Strip.  (Reuters)

King Abdullah and visiting President Mubarak warned in Amman of possible escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation with regional repercussions, if Israel failed to end its “aggressive policies”.  The two leaders reaffirmed that the Palestine issue would top the Arab agenda and stressed the need to end what they called Israel’s violent malpractice against the Palestinians, to lift the economic siege on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and to resume the peace process on the basis of what had been achieved in recent years.  They also reviewed preparations for an Arab Summit scheduled to take place in Amman on 27 March.  (XINHUA)

Israeli shelling of neighbourhoods in Ramallah killed a Palestinian civilian. A 53-year-old man was in his house when a tank shell ripped through the wall, killing him instantly.  Palestinians said a tank based at the Israeli West Bank military headquarters on the northern outskirts of Ramallah shelled several homes, causing heavy damage to many of them.  According to AFP, the latest death brought to 421 the number of people killed since the beginning of the intifadah, 346 of them Palestinians, 61 Israelis, 13 Israeli Arabs and 1 German.  (AFP, DPA)

28

The South African parliament decided to send a fact-finding delegation to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory to seek a way to end the conflict. Tony Yengeni, African National Congress chief, said the mission's task was to find out if the parliament could help bring about an end to fighting between the two sides. Members from all parties supported the resolution but warned that South Africa had to be even-handed and not try to put itself forward as peacemaker in the Middle East. (Reuters)

Ha’aretz reported that the Israeli army was considering ways of legalizing security patrols led by Jewish settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It said the army considered that, since the patrols already existed, it would be preferable that they be under its control. A senior army officer said that settlers had already received weapons from the army and many of them had performed reserve duty. (AFP)

Two Palestinians were wounded when a gunfight between armed Palestinians and Israeli troops broke out in Rafah, after the army had destroyed a Palestinian security post there.  A five-year-old Palestinian girl was seriously injured when the IDF fired shells at a village near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip in response to gunfire.  In the village of Rafat, near Ramallah, Israeli troops bulldozed a Palestinian home near the site where an Israeli woman had been seriously injured in an ambush against a minibus carrying Israeli workers.  (AFP, Reuters)

*   *   *