RIYADH/NABLUS, West Bank, 15 January — Saudi Arabia yesterday called on fellow Arab and Muslim states to "coordinate efforts" and shun disunity to face political and economic challenges. It also blasted Israel’s continuing atrocities against unarmed Palestinians.
Addressing the weekly Cabinet meeting, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd urged the international community to bring an end to Israeli practices. Israel has kept up its "criminal acts, using all types of weapons, against unarmed Palestinians" who daily lose "lives, houses and infrastructure," the king said.
"King Fahd stressed that the present situation demands that Arab and Islamic states coordinate efforts ... and avoid all causes of disunity to face up to the challenges and achieve security and stability," said Information Minister Dr. Fouad Al-Farsy.
The Middle East conflict exploded in a new round of violence yesterday after a Palestinian was killed in a blast blamed on the Jewish state, triggering a revenge attack which left one Israeli dead. Palestinian officials said the death of Raed Al-Karmi, the 30-year-old leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, marked a return to Israel’s controversial policy of assassinations.
Earlier in the day, Israel tore down nine Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem, four days after its demolition of homes in a Gaza Strip refugee camp provoked international criticism and dissent in the government. Scuffles broke out between police and protesters who tried to prevent bulldozers demolishing the partly built houses in Al-Isawiya — an Arab neighborhood of the city that was captured by Israel in 1967 — but no one was hurt.
The demolition came amid a furious row over the destruction of up 73 Palestinian houses in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah by the Israeli Army, which aid and UN groups say left hundreds of people homeless in mid-winter. Of the nine houses destroyed, two were partially inhabited while the remaining seven were still under construction, although almost finished. "It had taken us two years to build our house and we had spent 130,000 shekels ($29,500 ) on the house," said Majida Al-Alayan whose house was destroyed.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, swore revenge against Israel for the killing in Tulkarem, saying it had "opened the gates of hell" and was ending its declared truce.
A main adviser to Arafat accused Israel of being behind the assassination of the Palestinian and warned the killing amounted to a "dangerous escalation." Nabil Abu Rudeina, speaking at a press conference after talks between Arafat and EU Middle East envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos in the West Bank town of Ramallah, blamed Israel for the death of Al-Karmi. "Israel has returned to the policy of assassination, endangering US and EU efforts to bring peace back on track," he said.
Shortly after he was killed, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli Army mobile checkpoint near Nablus in the West Bank. An Israeli was killed in the attack, although security sources refused to say if he was a soldier. Military sources said two soldiers were seriously wounded.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed the attack, which it said left "several victims" and was in "retaliation for the assassination of" Karmi and the house demolitions in the southern Gaza Strip last week.
