Israeli Stalling on UN Jenin Mission Continues

30/04/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: 11 Palestinians Killed over Past 24-hours - UN Security Council Awaits Israeli Decision Tuesday - Deal in Bethlehem Expected Shortly - Free Arafat Plan Forging Ahead - Israel Presents Demands For UN Jenin Mission - Palestinian Resistance Has Responsibility to Protect Rights of Civilians; Amnesty International.

STORY: The number of deaths over the past 24-hours in Israel's on-going savage onslaught against Palestinians is now put at 11 people. At the same time, Israeli forces maintained their grip on Hebron on Tuesday, as Israel and the United Nations remained locked in stalemate over a U.N. fact-finding mission to the battered Jenin refugee camp, delayed for several days by Israeli objections. (Read photo caption within).

Palestinian security sources said nine people, including at least two militants and three security men, were killed in Hebron on Monday after Israeli occupation forces backed by helicopter gunships surged into the town and began house-to-house searches.

They said Israeli army gunfire also killed a Palestinian near the Kissufim junction in the Gaza Strip. Another Palestinian was gunned down by Israeli snipers taking part in the siege of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem.

POWELL EXPECTS DEAL IN BETHLEHEM

Speaking at a news conference in Washington Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday, an agreement to end Israel's siege of Bethlehem is likely soon adding that all the elements of an accord are in place.

Political observers in the region say a breakthrough on Bethlehem, following the one Sunday that freed Yasser Arafat from confinement in Ramallah, would give U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East its biggest boost in months.

The other agreement, on Ramallah, should be completed within 48 hours, he said.

But in evaluating the situation earlier Monday, President Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, cautioned, "Nothing in the Middle East is easy."

FREE-ARAFAT PLAN MOVING AHEAD

Meanwhile, the prospect drew closer of an end to Israel's month-long siege of Yasser Arafat's compound under a plan proposed by President Bush.

U.S. and British experts were to hold a second round of talks with Palestinian officials in Ramallah on moving six men wanted by Israel to a Palestinian prison where they will be guarded by U.S. and British security personnel.

Once the foreign jailers are in place and the men behind bars, Israel says it will pull its tanks out of the Palestinian president's battered headquarters and grant him freedom of movement.

ISRAEL'S LIST OF DEMANDS FOR UN MISSION TO JENIN

Israel meanwhile, appealed to the United States on Monday to make sure a U.N. fact-finding mission it has held up for more than 10 days into the devastation at the Jenin refugee camp would not present conclusions in its final report.

The demand was one of six in a letter from Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to Secretary of State Colin Powell, as the U.N. Security Council awaited Israel's approval for the mission after repeated requests for delays.

But the council held off action, awaiting an Israeli Cabinet decision on Tuesday.

U.N. officials would not comment on letter to Powell but some earlier had objected to Israel dictating the structure of the final report.

Other Israeli demands include that report explicitly mentions the word "terror" in relation to events in Jenin. Mention of international humanitarian law must include references to the "right of self-defense" and the "rights to fight terrorism", as well. Any testimony of Israelis had to be made available to Israel, prior to completion of the team's report, so Israel could comment on the testimony. And, Submission of documents to the committee would be based on the discretion of the Israeli government.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said it was "very urgent" the mission go ahead, had expected a decision from the Israeli Cabinet on Monday but the body did not meet. The Cabinet is now expected to make a decision early on Tuesday.

AMNEST INTERNATIONAL VISITS ISRAEL

Responding to criticism that human rights groups ignore Israeli victims, the head of Amnesty International on Monday visited Israelis hurt in Palestinian Resistance attacks.

Throughout 19 months of battles, Israeli officials have complained that international human rights groups have not condemned Palestinian bombings and shooting attacks, which many Palestinians, Arabs and others around the world support as a legitimate means in the struggle for an independent Palestinian homeland.

Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary-general, said Monday, the Palestinian Authority and armed Palestinian groups have a responsibility under international law to protect the rights of civilians.

Khan, who also toured the Jenin refugee camp on her visit to the region, came to a Tel Aviv hospital Monday and talked with two Israelis recovering from Palestinian attacks.

PHOTO CAPTION:

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (R) leads Chinese Vice-president Hu Jintao into his conference room at the United Nations in New York on April 29, 2002. The U.N., frustrated by a standoff with Israel over a much-delayed U.N. fact-finding mission to the Jenin refugee camp, scheduled fresh Security Council consultations. (Peter Morgan/Reuters)
- Apr 29 10:18 PM