Israel & the Palestinians to Hold So-called Security & Economic Cooperation Talks

10/09/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Contrary to American-Israeli Expectations, Arafat Stops Short of Ordering Halt to Armed Resistance to Israeli Occupation||Israel, for the First Time, Revokes Citizenship of an Israeli Arab||Legislator Says Decision Reflects Racist Mentality of Israeli Government||Israel Sends Tanks into Gaza Before Palestinian Parliamentary Session||Three Arabs in East Jerusalem Accused of Poison Plot at Restaurant||Israel Claims it Has Neutralized Hamas Core Fighters|| STORY: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat condemned attacks on Israeli civilians in a speech to parliament, but dashed any hopes that he would for the first time call for a halt to violence altogether.

Arafat made no major new proposals in his speech to the fullest meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) on Monday since a Palestinian uprising began against Israeli occupation nearly two years ago.

Palestinian and Israeli sources later said the two sides could hold new talks on security and economic cooperation as early as Tuesday. But hopes of a breakthrough were slim.

Arafat has never explicitly asked for a halt in violence against Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, seen by Palestinians and the international community as usurpers of Arab land.

Israel said it would judge Arafat by his actions and not by his words.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN TALKS POSSIBLE

The Israeli and Palestinian political sources gave few details of the plans to hold a new round of talks on Tuesday.

The Israeli sources said the talks had yet to be finalized but there was every chance they would go ahead with Peres at the head of the Israeli team and Finance Minister Salam Fayyad leading the Palestinian delegation.

The sides have held several meetings in recent weeks after a four-month freeze, but neither describes them as peace talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ruled out peace negotiations until all Palestinian attacks.

Israel for the first time revoked the citizenship of an Israeli Arab on Monday, paving the way for his deportation after accusing him of planning Resistance attacks with the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas.

The Interior Ministry said Nahad Abu Kishaq helped Resistance bombers enter Israel. A charge sheet accuses him of being responsible for killing Israelis by helping to bring bombers and explosive devices into Israel.

Talab al-Sana, an Israeli Arab legislator, told Reuters: "This is a severe precedent. This reflects the racist mentality of the Israeli government."

ISRAEL SENDS TANKS INTO GAZA BEFORE PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENT MEETING

Earlier, Israel sent tanks into central Gaza early Monday, blowing up a building in one refugee camp and searching another, hours before the special session of the Palestinian parliament.

In Gaza, Palestinian security said about 60 Israeli tanks moved south from Gaza City and surrounded the three main refugee camps in central Gaza.

Residents of the Bourej camp said occupation soldiers ordered families out of a two-story house where a suspected Resistance activist lived and blew up the building.

Troops searched the Nusseirat camp, across the main highway from Bourej, residents said, and surrounded the nearby Mughazi camp.

THREE ARABS ACCUSED OF POISON PLOT

Three Arabs from east Jerusalem have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to poison diners at a restaurant where one of the suspects worked in the kitchen, occupation authorities said Monday.

The trio also was accused of plotting a Resistance bombing attack against a procession of right-wing Israelis.

Two of the suspects were indicted Monday at Jerusalem District Court. A third - a restaurant cook - was remanded in custody.

According to the charge sheet, 23-year-old Soufian Abdu contacted the Palestinian Resistance group Hamas through the Internet and offered his services.

On instructions from Hamas, Abdu obtained drugs that regulate heartbeats but are fatal in an overdose, the indictment said.

ISRAEL CLAIMS IT HAS NEURALIZED CORE OF HAMAS' FIGHTERS

Israel says its has rounded up or killed nearly every known member of the military wing of the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas operating in the West Bank, it was reported.

Time magazine's latest issue cited in its report Israeli intelligence officials as saying 98 percent of Hamas fighters "known to them" -- or a total of 70 men -- had been either killed or arrested in the area since the launch in late March of the Israel's West Bank offensive, known as Operation Defensive Shield.

With the Israeli occupation army still in or around every West Bank town, it's no longer possible for cells to organize across different areas, the officials said.

They also claimed that many Hamas activists were calling for a temporary halt to Resistance attacks, fearing their group could be wiped out as a political as well as a military force.

However, Time said other Hamas leaders, particularly those based outside the West Bank and Gaza argued that it was now more important than ever to show Israel that the movement had not been neutralized.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat gives a speech to the Palestinian legislative council in the West Bank city of Ramallah September 9, 2002. Arafat said peace with Israel was still possible despite two years of violence, and repeated his condemnation of attacks on Israeli and Palestinian civilians. (Palestinian Authority/Hussein Hussein via Reuter