RAMALLAH, West Bank, 27 October —A Palestinian official said yesterday that the US plan for peace in the Middle East was doomed to failure because of Israeli resistance and a lack of resolve on the part of Washington. “The plan has no future because Israel will reject it and the United States is not ready to do anything to push it forward, and that is why the Palestinian position is irrelevant,” said acting Labor Minister Ghassan Al-Khatib, the same day US Middle East envoy Willaim Burns left Israel.
Khatib ripped apart the US plan for “dictating conditions on reform including on the legislative elections and the nomination of a prime minister. All of this is internal Palestinian affairs. We reject such dictates. This plan is for public relations in order to satisfy other Arab countries,” he added.
Burns flew off to Yemen after a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories that ended with little to show for his efforts to push the peace process forward.
Israel tightened its grip on the West Bank town of Jenin.
Palestinian witnesses said the Israeli Army detained 11 people there.
Hundreds of troops backed by heavy armor rolled into Jenin on Friday, commandeering buildings, searching homes and imposing a curfew. The army drew fire from the Palestinian resistance and also on the diplomatic front from the European Union, which urged restraint.
Israeli military chiefs said the Jenin operation — dubbed “Vanguard” — would last as long as necessary to flush out those waging a Palestinian uprising for independence. Palestinian medics said six people were seriously wounded in clashes with the army. Three Palestinians, including two children were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the flashpoint southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. A 14-year-old boy was seriously wounded as Israeli Army bulldozers were being operated in the sector, while a 10-year-old boy and a 45-year-old man were also hit in apparently separate incidents.
