HEBRON, West Bank, 17 April 2003 — Israel yesterday imposed a tight shutdown on the Palestinian territories for the weeklong Jewish festival of Passover, marked by a huge Palestinian bomb attack last year, as Israeli troops in the West Bank shot dead an Islamist they said was resisting arrest. But Israel suffered a setback on the diplomatic front late Tuesday as US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the long-awaited “road map” for Middle East peace will be published soon without changes, despite strong Israeli reservations.
In predawn raids, the army arrested two would-be “bombers”, one allegedly equipped with an explosive belt, near the West Bank town of Tulkarm as they made their way toward Israel, a military spokesman said.
As troops continued to scour the West Bank, reoccupied since last June, for activists, the army also sealed off all the Palestinian territories as a security measure for the Passover holiday.
During the holiday last year, a Hamas bomber killed 29 people celebrating the feast at a hotel in Netanya, a northern Israeli coastal resort which has been the frequent target of Palestinian bombers and gunmen in 30 months of fighting. “The Palestinians of the West Bank as well as those of the Gaza Strip will not be authorized to enter Israel, following alerts of attacks being prepared during the feast,” a military spokesman said.
He said the bridges over the Jordan River linking the West Bank to Jordan, and the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt would also be closed at least until Sunday.
Near the main southern West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian from the Hamas movement as he resisted arrest, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.
In Washington, Powell dealt a blow to Israeli hopes for changes to the peace plan drawn up by the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia, despite Israeli threats to reject the plan if their amendments were not heeded.
The road map — completed in December by the international diplomatic “quartet” on the Middle East but delayed due to political developments — will be released in its original form once a Palestinian prime minister is confirmed, Powell said.
“The road map will be released to the parties after Mr. Abu Mazen is confirmed. It will be the road map draft that was finished last December,” he told reporters.
The Palestinian prime minister-designate, Mahmud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, is expected to be confirmed by the Palestinian Parliament along with his Cabinet by next week at the latest.
Powell acknowledged that Washington had received a series of initial comments about the draft from Israel and expected to hear more once the road map is released.
At that point, Powell said the United States would also be seeking comments from the new Palestinian government but he stressed that the road map would not be changed in response to reactions from either side.
