| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Israeli envoy: Unapproved outposts to be phased out
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel will begin dismantling unauthorized Israeli settler outposts in a few days and will eventually remove all of them, an Israeli diplomat said Thursday. But Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who has been sidelined from the latest attempt to find peace, says Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has offered nothing tangible to Palestinians. At a summit Wednesday between Sharon, U.S. President George W. Bush and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, Sharon pledged to remove "unauthorized outposts" and do what it takes for the establishment of "a viable Palestinian state." Speaking on CNN's "Q&A," Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon said: "We are going to remove unauthorized posts starting two or three days from now. "We are taking concrete steps. [Israel] is going to dismantle them all. It's going to do it in a phased-out manner." He added that the larger question of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza that have been authorized by the Israeli government "is a political issue, which will be dealt with according to agreements and understandings" in a final status agreement. Arafat: Nothing 'tangible' yetArafat, however, was critical of the peace process, known as the road map, and Sharon's offer. "Unfortunately, he has not yet offered anything tangible," said Arafat -- the long-time Palestinian leader whom the United States accuses of not doing enough to combat Palestinian terrorist groups. "What's the significance of removing a caravan from one location and then saying 'I have removed a settlement?' " U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, when asked about Arafat's role, said Wednesday that new leadership is necessary to move peace forward. "Yasser Arafat was not here today and Prime Minister Abbas was. And we have made it clear that we believe that transformed leadership is necessary," he said. "We recognize that President Arafat is still an elected president and he still has standing with the Palestine people. But we have said clearly since last year that we believe that his leadership has failed." Sharon said at Wednesday's summit that it is in Israel's interest for the Palestinians to govern themselves. "In regard to the unauthorized outposts, I want to reiterate that Israel is a society governed by the rule of law. Thus, we will immediately begin to remove unauthorized outposts." Abbas to meet with HamasBoth radical Palestinian groups and Jewish settlers have declared their opposition to proposals laid down in the road map to peace. The militant Islamic group Hamas, which has claimed responsibility for many of the recent terror attacks on Israeli civilians as well as military targets, has rejected Abbas' call to end the armed intifada against Israel -- although it said it might back a cease-fire. Sources from the Palestinian militant group told CNN on Thursday that a meeting between Abbas and Hamas representatives could happen as soon as Friday afternoon. In an interview with CNN on Monday, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader, said his group could consider stopping its attacks on Israelis if Israel ends its military operations in the West Bank and Gaza and what Palestinians call assassinations of militants. Abbas has predicted he would reach a cease-fire agreement with all the radical Palestinian groups within three weeks. Hamas members killed in Israeli security operationIsraeli forces killed two Hamas activists during an overnight operation near the West Bank town of Tulkarem, both Israeli and Palestinian sources said, although both sides offered different versions of how they were killed. The Israeli unit of the border force was in the village of Ateil, northeast of Tulkarem, late Thursday to arrest a Hamas activist, according to the Israel Defense Forces. They approached a house where several Hamas operatives were holed up, and asked them to surrender, the IDF said. When the operatives did not respond, the Israeli forces attacked the house and a gunfight ensued, in which the two Hamas activists were killed, and a third sustained minor injuries, the IDF said. The Palestinian Red Crescent, quoting eyewitness accounts, said the activists did not resist the Israeli forces. The IDF said Israeli forces found three Kalashnikov rifles and a pistol inside the house after the gun battle. In other overnight operations, Israeli forces arrested four wanted Palestinians southeast of Tulkarem and two others in Nablus, according to the IDF. During the Nablus operation, Palestinians threw an explosive device toward the Israeli forces, but no one was injured in the attack, the IDF said.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
