GAZA CITY, 6 July 2003 — A Palestinian died and another was injured in an unexplained explosion in the Gaza Strip yesterday, as Israel and the Palestinians prepared to take further steps toward implementing the US-backed peace road map.
In spite of the violence, further talks were scheduled to take place between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, a source in Abbas’ office said yesterday, saying the two would discuss ways to advance the road map.
Israeli officials were not immediately available to confirm the meeting.
And Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan was set to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz today to discuss further Israeli withdrawals from reoccupied Palestinian lands, Dahlan’s office said.
Israel began a partial withdrawal from areas of the Gaza Strip last Sunday, and pulled out of the southern West Bank town of Bethlehem on Wednesday, transferring security responsibility to the Palestinians.
But a series of isolated incidents overnight in Gaza and the West Bank underlined the fragility of both the security agreement and of a seven-day-old truce declared by Palestinian groups.
Majdi Abu Shaluf, 22, was killed and a second man was injured in an explosion to the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, hospital and security sources said.
Earlier, the same sources said Shaluf died as a result of Israeli gunfire, but a Palestinian security spokesman later said “Shaluf was killed by an explosive device left behind by the Israeli Army.”
But Israeli military sources said no shots were fired by their troops in the area. Shaluf’s death brings to 3,376 the number of dead since the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000. Of these, 2,545 were Palestinians and 770 Israelis.
Violations of the cease-fire topped the agenda of the weekly Palestinian Cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Members also warned Israel’s killing of a Palestinian leader on Wednesday was a “dangerous and a serious threat” to the truce. The Cabinet also discussed measures to be taken by the Palestinian security services to stop Palestinian violations of the cease-fire, an official statement said.
There was also an appeal to Hisham Abdelrazeq, the Palestinian minister in charge of prisoners affairs, to press for Israel to release all Palestinian prisoners, one of the conditions set by the factions in declaring their truce.
The prisoner issue is likely to be brought up in the coming Abbas-Sharon talks, a source in Abbas’s office said, without giving further details. The two leaders last met at Sharon’s Jerusalem office late Tuesday to discuss moving forward the road map.
Today’s talks between Dahlan and Mofaz were likely to focus on the question of further Israeli withdrawals from reoccupied Palestinian lands and the freeing of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, Information Minister Nabil Amr said.
Also today, the director of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service, Avi Dichter, was to present a list of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners his organization recommends for release, public radio reported, saying the list was drawn up at Sharon’s request.
Four Palestinian factions, including the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, on Sunday declared a three-month cease-fire but said it hinged on a number of conditions, including Israel freeing thousands of Palestinian detainees. Abbas fought hard to rally the groups, who remain skeptical about his efforts to forge peace with the Israelis through the framework of the US-backed road map.
Leaders of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad reiterated their commitment to the truce in talks with Abbas in Gaza on Friday, an official from the premier’s office said yesterday.
Abbas met yesterday for the first time with Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in an apparent bid to shore up a cease-fire. Abbas and Yassin declined to speak to reporters after the 35-minute meeting at Yassin’s Gaza home. The talks were held against the backdrop of demands by the Palestinian Authority and militants for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners.
