GAZA CITY, 17 October — Israelis, pursuing its policy of assassination, yesterday killed a third member of Hamas in as many days in a blast in the Gaza Strip, a Hamas leader confirmed.
Yad Al-Akhraz, 28, was killed when the blast ripped through his house in Rafah refugee camp in the south of the self-rule territory. The Hamas leader for Gaza, Ismail Haniya, said the dead man was a Hamas activist and accused Israel of blowing him up.
Palestinian minister Nabil Shaath accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of following a "policy of assassination" and further escalating the Middle East conflict.
It was against this bloody backdrop that Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok joined international calls for the creation of a Palestinian state yesterday, just one day after British Prime Minister Tony Blair publicly backed the idea.
In a hastily convened news conference with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Kok said Europe and the United States would keep up the pressure on all parties to resume the Middle East negotiations. "There should be no doubt about the absolute necessity to have lasting peace, and this can only be the case if there is a viable Palestinian state offering and guaranteeing complete security with no danger for the Israeli people," he said.
Earlier in Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern promised Arafat he would help through the EU and the UN to press for an urgent resumption of peace talks with Israel and the creation of a Palestinian state.
In another development, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon’s political crisis deepened as Jewish settlers turned on him a day after two ultra-nationalist parties stormed out of his coalition government in protest at peace moves.
Sharon struggled to limit the political damage caused by US pressure to make him turn his back on election pledges and make concessions toward the Palestinians and the head of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat.
After winning strong support from British Prime Minister Tony Blair for the creation of a Palestinian state as well as a new push for peace talks, Arafat visited Dublin and The Hague to muster further support.
In Tel Aviv, Israeli politicians and analysts warned the peace initiative snowballing in the wake of Arafat’s snap European tour could sound the death knell for Sharon’s government.
Israeli newspaper daily Maariv has, meanwhile, quoted Sharon as saying the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians are dead.
