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Hebron talks resume after shooting attack
Palestinians wounded by renegade Israeli soldier
January 1, 1997
Web posted at: 2:20 p.m. EST (1920 GMT)JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian and Israeli negotiators resumed talks Wednesday over the fate of the West Bank town of Hebron after a shooting attack there by an Israeli soldier wounded seven Palestinians.
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Chief Palestinian negotiator Mahmoud Abbass and Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai met Wednesday evening at the home of U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk. The two were trying to finalize the deal that would turn much of Hebron over to Palestinian rule.
Talks were postponed for a few hours Wednesday following the shooting by a uniformed Israeli soldier who opened fire at the Palestinian market in Hebron. In addition to the seven wounded in the attack, four others were hurt in the ensuing panic.
Israeli security forces identified the attacker as Noam Friedman, a 19-year-old orthodox Jew from the Maale Adumim settlement near Jerusalem. Friedman was dragged to the ground and arrested by other Israeli soldiers seconds after he began firing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack as a "criminal act" in a phone call to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He told Arafat that the shooting would not interfere with nearly completed talks on Israeli troop redeployment in Hebron.
"I want to say again in a sharp way that no crime and no violent act will stand in the way of our completing our work," the prime minister told reporters later Wednesday.
Netanyahu said that the gunman told police he carried out the attack in an attempt to sabotage the handover of most of Hebron to Palestinian rule. The prime minister blamed delays in the redeployment negotiations for creating the atmosphere that led to Wednesday's attack.
Witnesses said that Friedman, who was not stationed in Hebron, emptied an entire magazine of his M-16 rifle before being arrested. Israeli radio reported that Friedman told police that Palestinians threw stones at him before he opened fire. The shooting took place in Gross Square, next to the Jewish enclave of Avraham Avinu.
Abdul-Karim al-Atrash, a produce vendor in the market, told Voice of Palestine radio that there was no stone-throwing prior to the attack.
U.S. envoy works to keep talks on track
U.S. special envoy Dennis Ross, who was instrumental in jump- starting the present round of negotiations, spoke with both Netanyahu and Arafat immediately after the shooting.
A spokesman for Netanyahu said that Ross told the prime minister that conditions were right for an Arafat/Netanyahu meeting either Wednesday night or Thursday, presumably to allow the two to hammer out final details and sign the Hebron agreement.
In South Carolina, President Clinton telephoned Arafat to express his sympathy, and issued a statement calling the attack a "cowardly attack."
"The best answer to this action would be for the two sides to close the remaining gaps and move forward with the hard work of forging a durable peace," the statement said. "Chairman Arafat and Prime Minster Netanyahu will have America's unwavering support as they pursue that goal."
Administration officials said Clinton, who is on vacation this week, was "saddened" by the attack was in contact with Ross.
Palestinians blame settlers for violence
Shortly after the shooting, Palestinian youths burned tires and threw stones at Israeli soldiers outside the hospital where the wounded were taken. The soldiers did not respond, but Israel temporarily clamped a curfew onto Hebron and moved armored personnel carriers into hills above the town.
The incident enflamed tensions over the long-delayed troop redeployment, originally scheduled to take place nine months ago.
Israel's government, however, delayed the action following a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem believed to have originated in Hebron. Following his election, Netanyahu further delayed the redeployment while seeking better protection for the 400 Jewish settlers in the town of over 100,000 Palestinians.
But some Palestinians said the shooting underscored that the true danger comes from Jewish militants, not Palestinians.
"(Israelis) have been arguing with us for four months over the security of the settlers," said Jibril Rajoub, the Palestinian security police chief in the West Bank. "Now it is clear who is in danger."
Hebron's Palestinian mayor, Mustafa Natche, demanded after the attack that the Jewish settlers in the city be disarmed, while chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said that the only way to end violence in Hebron was to remove the settlers entirely.
But Noam Arnon, spokesman for Hebron's Jewish settlers, said that the attack pointed to the need for Israel to maintain control in the West Bank town. If Palestinian police had responded, he said, clashes between the Palestinians and Israelis would have been certain.
Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers and Reuters contributed to this report.
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- U.S. mediator tries to break Mideast deadlock - December 21, 1996
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