OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 25 December 2003 — Palestinian Premier Ahmed Qorei canceled indefinitely yesterday a meeting between his bureau chief Hassan Abu Libdeh and Dov Weisglass, head of Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon’s bureau, which was to have planned a mini summit.
The move was a protest against an Israeli Army raid in the Rafah refugee camp which ended yesterday morning and left nine Palestinians dead and more than 40 injured, officials in Qorei’s office said.
Libdeh and Weisglass have been holding meetings to discuss parleys between Qorei and Sharon, which have been in the pipeline for weeks but have yet to take place.
Qorei has said that while he welcomes a meeting, he only wants one which will have tangible results and will not see him depart empty handed. The two premiers have not met since Qorei assumed his present position.
The announcement from Qorei’s office came a short while after Israeli troops pulled out of Rafah, more than 24 hours after entering it.
Rafah Hospital Director Ali Mussa said that the latest casualty of the operation was a Palestinian police officer who died early yesterday morning from wounds sustained the day before.
The Israeli Army raid had begun before dawn Tuesday when more than 40 armored vehicles clanked into the Yebna refugee camp and the Rafah refugee camp.
Palestinian residents said that the Israelis stormed the camp under the cover of two Apache helicopters which fired on the area, causing serious injury to two Palestinians.
