Occupiers set Palestinian property on fire
Published: Jul 2, 2010 22:09 Updated: Jul 2, 2010 22:09
RAMALLAH: Jewish occupiers set on fire two vehicles belonging to Palestinians in Hebron early Friday.
Palestinian security sources in the city said that occupiers from the settlement of Tel Rumeida, in the center of Hebron, “poured gasoline on the cars, set them ablaze and fled the scene.” The sources added that one of the cars belongs to Hana’ Abu Haikal.
Hebron, home to approximately 170,000 Palestinians and 600 Jewish occupiers, is a hot zone where occupiers and Palestinian residents have clashed on numerous occasions.
The occupiers have vandalized mosques and destroyed Palestinian property in several West Bank locations as part of their “price tag” policy following the Israeli government decision to freeze constriction in settlements for 10 months.
Hebron was divided to two areas according to Wye River agreement, signed by then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in 1998. H1 area, under complete Palestinian control, and H2, which is under Israeli security control. The number of Palestinian living in the two areas is around 150,000. The total number of Jewish occupiers living in H2 is about 400 permanent residents.
The old town, the commercial center and the vegetable and meat wholesale markets were all located in H2. It also included several Jewish enclaves.
Israeli government policy in H2 has forced thousands of Palestinian residents to abandon more than 1,000 homes and at least 1,829 businesses and turned the area into a ghost town, Israeli human rights organizations B’Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said recently.
The occupiers’ new attack came as US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell held talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaderships in an attempt to revive the peace talks that had been frozen since Israel waged a war on Gaza in December 2008.
Mitchell has been leading the US-brokered proximity talks that started in May, aiming to bridge the gaps that prevent the two sides from holding direct negotiations by reaching an agreement on the issues of West Bank Jewish settlements, refugees, security and the borders of the future Palestinian statehood.
The Israeli radio said Friday that Israeli National Security Advisers Uzi Arad and Yitzhak Molcho, will leave for Egypt on Sunday to meet with head of Egyptian Intelligence Omar Suleiman. The report added that the meeting is meant to help Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prepare for his trip to Washington on Monday.
Netanyahu plans to meet US President Barack Obama on Tuesday to discuss the peace process.
The report quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that “this time, the talks with President Obama on the Palestinian issue are more important than ever.” “They will determine the future of the process in the region”, the official said.
Arad, the prime minister’s national security advisor, and Molcho, Netanyahu’s special emissary on Palestinian issues, are scheduled to meet with Egyptian Information Minister Omar Suleiman due to the great importance Israel sees in the Egyptian involvement in the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
According to the report, Israel is looking into options to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, through Cairo, to launch direct talks.
The Israeli official said that Abbas’ decision on whether to launch direct talks would be based on the Israeli willingness to continue its settlement construction freeze after September 26.
The report said that Obama is interested in preventing an embarrassment in case the Palestinians accept the demand, but Israel resumes construction in the West Bank at the same time. Netanyahu, on his part, will try to reach a solution which would not undermine the stability of his coalition.
