OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 14 November — Israel said yesterday its forces would remain in two Palestinian-ruled West Bank areas despite a demand by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council for a pullout.
The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China also called on Palestinians to end violence in a joint statement issued on Monday at the UN General Assembly meeting.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Hassan Asfour condemned the foreign ministers’ appeal for an end to the revolt against Israeli occupation, saying it justified "Israel’s terrorist acts against the Palestinian people".
Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said troops would not leave West Bank areas around Jenin and Tulkarm until Palestinian security forces agreed to restrain activists and prevent violence.
"There is a plan to withdraw. It has been postponed and delayed because of the current security situation," Gissin said.
In fresh violence yesterday, a Palestinian woman Wafa Nasif, 29, was killed in Tulkarm.
Israel reoccupied areas in and around six Palestinian-ruled cities in the West Bank after Palestinians allegedly assassinated a far-right Cabinet minister on Oct. 17.
The United States has been trying to calm the violence in an attempt to bolster Arab and Islamic support for its anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan, launched after the Sept. 11 attacks in the US.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters US President George W. Bush had to make good his vision of Israeli and Palestinian states living peacefully side-by-side, which he presented to the UN General Assembly on Saturday.
Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Al-Ragheb said in remarks published in Jordanian newspapers that Arab states and the European Union were seeking to launch a Middle East peace plan.
