OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 23 July — Against a backdrop of more Palestinian bloodshed and a security alert in Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon again yesterday resisted a call by leaders of the world’s most powerful nations for observers to be sent to the strife-torn region.
Israeli helicopters shelled the home of a Hamas activist late yesterday in Jenin in the northern West Bank, Palestinian witnesses said. They said the raid targeted Ibrahim Jaber, a Hamas leader in the Jenin area. The house was empty when the attack was launched.
Overnight, Yehia Sobhi Al-Daya, a 48-year-old father of 20, was killed when an Israeli tank shell slammed into his home south of Gaza City, bringing to 50 the number of people killed since a cease-fire was declared more than five weeks ago.
The G-8 observer proposal was at the top of the agenda at the Israeli Cabinet meeting yesterday, with ministers reiterating the government’s rejection.
“There can be no resolution to this issue without our consent,” Sharon told the meeting, adding that Israel’s position was “clear and well-known.”
G-8 leaders issued the call at their summit in Italy on Saturday, saying there was a need for “immediate action” to end the fighting that has engulfed the region for 10 months and cost more than 650 lives.
Peres said the presence of international observers could “internationalize the conflict,” while nevertheless saying Israel would consider an increased US role in monitoring the truce.
In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said that Israel had something to hide by refusing to permit outside observers to monitor the current truce.
“Observers must designate the side responsible for violating the cease-fire and it’s astonishing that Israel rejects the presence of observers while it accuses the Palestinians of not respecting their commitments,” Maher said.
“It’s the side which commits a crime which does not want observers or witnesses,” Maher told reporters.
Maher warned of “extreme dangers” in the Middle East if the international community fails to intervene to stop what he denounced as Israel’s “hostile” policy toward peace.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due in the region this week to push for early implementation of the Mitchell plan. (Agencies) OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Against a backdrop of more Palestinian bloodshed and a security alert in Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon again yesterday resisted a call by leaders of the world’s most powerful nations for observers to be sent to the strife-torn region.
Israeli helicopters shelled the home of a Hamas activist late yesterday in Jenin in the northern West Bank, Palestinian witnesses said. They said the raid targeted Ibrahim Jaber, a Hamas leader in the Jenin area. The house was empty when the attack was launched.
Overnight, Yehia Sobhi Al-Daya, a 48-year-old father of 20, was killed when an Israeli tank shell slammed into his home south of Gaza City, bringing to 50 the number of people killed since a cease-fire was declared more than five weeks ago.
The G-8 observer proposal was at the top of the agenda at the Israeli Cabinet meeting yesterday, with ministers reiterating the government’s rejection.
“There can be no resolution to this issue without our consent,” Sharon told the meeting, adding that Israel’s position was “clear and well-known.”
G-8 leaders issued the call at their summit in Italy on Saturday, saying there was a need for “immediate action” to end the fighting that has engulfed the region for 10 months and cost more than 650 lives.
Peres said the presence of international observers could “internationalize the conflict,” while nevertheless saying Israel would consider an increased US role in monitoring the truce.
In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said that Israel had something to hide by refusing to permit outside observers to monitor the current truce.
“Observers must designate the side responsible for violating the cease-fire and it’s astonishing that Israel rejects the presence of observers while it accuses the Palestinians of not respecting their commitments,” Maher said.
“It’s the side which commits a crime which does not want observers or witnesses,” Maher told reporters.
Maher warned of “extreme dangers” in the Middle East if the international community fails to intervene to stop what he denounced as Israel’s “hostile” policy toward peace.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due in the region this week to push for early implementation of the Mitchell plan.
