Gunfire Jars Security Agreement
J E R U S A L E M, Nov. 25, 2000 -- A plan for Israeli and Palestinian securityforces to resume limited cooperation failed to take hold todayamid a series of clashes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. FourPalestinians were killed and more than 30 were wounded in thefighting, medical officials said.
Three of the Palestinians who died were shot by Israeli soldiersin confrontations in the West Bank at Jenin, Nablus and Arabeh.
Inaddition, 13-year-old Tayser al-Araj was killed in the Gaza Stripat Khan Yunis, hospital doctors said. The Israeli army said itfired live ammunition in Nablus after it came under gunfire butclaimed it used only rubber bullets to respond to stone throwers inJenin.
Follows Arafat-Barak Deal
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader YasserArafat spoke by telephone Friday and agreed to renew low-levelsecurity ties, including the work of 10 joint liaison offices,which were shut Thursday after an Israeli soldier was killed at oneoutpost.
However, Israeli soldiers at the liaison office in the southernGaza Strip came under gunfire today and shot back, the Israeliarmy said. No injuries were reported, but the incident reflectedthe difficulty in implementing the plan.
A small number of Palestinian security officers turned up atother liaison offices in Gaza and the West Bank, but there was nocooperation between the two sides, the army said.
“I am sorry to say that the meeting and the communicationsbetween the two sides did not succeed in stopping the Israeliaggression,” said Marwan Kanafani, a spokesman for Arafat.
Symbols of Cooperation
Before the fighting began two months ago, the liaison officeswere a symbol of cooperation, albeit limited, between Israelis andPalestinians. The two sides conducted joint security patrols andworked out day-to-day problems in the field.
Restoring the cooperation is seen as an important first step inrebuilding the trust shattered by weeks of violence here that haveclaimed more than 270 lives, most of them Palestinian.
Five Palestinians and two Israelis were killed Friday in aseries of shootings and rocket attacks. A day later, an estimated8,000 mourners turned out for the funeral of two of the dead: SamiAmer, 32, and his brother Naheed Amer, 26, who were killed in theWest Bank village of Kufr Kalil.
The brothers, who were leaders of Arafat’s Fatah movement in thevillage, were hit by rocket shrapnel following an intense firefightbetween Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen.
First Conversation in Three Weeks
Speaking to one another for the first time in more than threeweeks, Barak and Arafat held a telephone conversation Fridayarranged by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was meeting withArafat in Moscow.
Barak and Putin were speaking by phone while Arafat was in theroom. At one point, the Russian leader, after asking Barak’spermission, handed the phone to Arafat. The Palestinian leaderpromised to push for an end to the violence, Barak’s office said.
Senior Palestinians said Arafat has renewed an order thatPalestinians stop shooting at Israelis from Palestinian-controlledareas. However, Gilead Sher, a senior Barak aide, was skepticalthat a real truce would take hold, noting that several previouscease-fire agreements quickly unraveled.
“Reality is what we assess, not words,” Sher said. He saidIsrael will consider a resumption of peace talks only if there is a“dramatic reduction in Palestinian hostilities.”
Israel’s foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, was to fly to Moscowin the coming days for a meeting with his Russian counterpart, IgorIvanov, another sign of growing Russian involvement in Mideastmediation.
Arafat to Jordan
Arafat went on to Jordan, where he was to meet today withKing Abdullah II.
Abdullah, speaking at the opening session of Jordan’sparliament, said he is committed to Middle East peacemaking despitecalls from his subjects to cut ties with Israel under a peacetreaty signed in 1994.
The 38-year-old king pledged continued efforts “to advance thepeace process” and reiterated support for the Palestinians untilthey “regain their rights and build their independent state ontheir national soil with Jerusalem as its capital.”
His Palestinian-born wife, Queen Rania, and other members of theroyal family were in parliament to hear him speak.