GAZA CITY, 5 December 2002 — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposed yesterday the creation of a Palestinian state in the zones under Palestinian administration, covering 40 percent of the West Bank and three-quarters of the Gaza Strip as troops killed three Palestinians on the eve of Eid Al-Fitr.
Sharon said on Israeli television: “Within the framework set by President (George W.) Bush, Israel will accept the creation of a Palestinian state within non-definitive borders, which correspond to Zones A and B” under Palestinian administration.
A Palestinian man was killed yesterday when Israeli helicopter gunships fired on government offices in Gaza City, while two others were shot dead by Israeli troops during clashes in the West Bank.
Five Israeli gunships staged an assault on the Palestinian Authority’s offices in Gaza City in the afternoon. Four missiles hit a compound which included offices of the Interior Ministry, killing one Palestinian and injuring four, Palestinian security sources said.
The victim was identified as Mohammad Sabah and his family said he was one of the leaders of the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella group of Palestinian organizations in the Gaza Strip.
Reporters saw Sabah’s dismembered body and missile fragments being removed from the building near a Palestinian security complex.
Palestinian Local Government Minister Saeb Erekat, whose offices are adjacent to the targeted compound, condemned “this new Israeli crime, which shows what little consideration Israel has for human life.”
Earlier yesterday, soldiers carrying out a search near the southern West Bank city of Hebron killed two Palestinians who, according to Israeli sources, opened fire on them.
As Israel came under scrutiny, Washington gave it a boost during a ritual UN General Assembly vote aimed at reaffirming the rights of the Palestinians.
The United States voted for the first time against a resolution condemning the Israeli annexation of Jerusalem.
Instead of abstaining as in previous years, the United States voted against the non-binding resolution which calls Israel’s declaration of Jerusalem as its eternal and indivisible capital “illegal and therefore null and void...”
Erekat was furious after the vote which he described as a worrying indication of the extent of the alliance between US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Meanwhile, a US citizen suspected of links with Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda terror network was arrested upon arrival in Israel two weeks ago, police spokesman Gil Kleiman told AFP yesterday.
Khaled Nazem Diab, who held a US passport, “was arrested upon his arrival in Israel on suspicion of transferring funds to terrorist organizations in general, and those connected to Al-Qaeda in particular.”
