GAZA, 26 January 2003 — Israeli forces blew up bridges and battled Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip yesterday in swift response to a rocket strike on a town near Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s ranch days before Israel’s general election.
In Cairo, Palestinian factions began landmark talks on Friday on an Egyptian proposal for a one-year unilateral cease-fire of attacks on Israelis, but chances of agreement at the end of talks today looked slim.
Constant violence in a 28-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood has fueled support in Israel for the tough security policies of Sharon’s right-wing Likud party, forecast to romp to victory in Tuesday’s parliamentary poll.
Hours after five rockets slammed into the Israeli town of Sderot, down the road from Sharon’s Sycamore Ranch, an armored force pushed into Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Police said a woman was slightly injured in the Sderot attack.
At least one Palestinian was killed and 20 were hurt during the overnight Israeli incursion, local security sources said. An army spokesman said its forces pulled out of Beit Hanoun early yesterday and suffered no casualties.
The soldiers blew up four bridges that connected Beit Hanoun to Gaza City to the south. In a statement, the army said the bridges were used by “terrorist cells” that launched the Qassam rockets.
Dozens of mourners marched in a funeral procession in Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp for Hassan Youssef Fayad, killed in the Israeli operation in Beit Hanoun. “In blood and spirit, we shall redeem you, martyr,” the crowd chanted as Fayad’s body, draped in a Palestinian flag, was carried through the camp’s streets.
A senior Palestinian official in Cairo said the factions, meeting for a second day of talks, were considering a commitment to halt attacks dependent on guarantees from Israel that it would stop the killings and assassinations of Palestinians. Factions ranging from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s mainstream Fatah to Islamist and Marxist groups are attending the talks.
The senior Palestinian official said the factions were discussing an Egyptian cease-fire proposal, but wanted to make it conditional on Israel’s agreement to end violence. “One of the suggestions that Egypt put forward is to keep the (truce) agreement as a deposit with the Egyptians until Israel gives serious commitments and guarantees (to end its military crackdown),” he said. The official said such a conditional proposal could be adopted by the factions at the end of the meeting, alongside a commitment to work toward a unified Palestinian strategy.
Agreement to Egypt’s proposal for a one-year cease-fire seemed a long shot from the outset. Several factions such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad rejected it before talks even began. Only Fatah has endorsed the idea so far. But even without a cease-fire agreement, analysts have said bringing factions together is an achievement in itself and could help create a more united position in the future.
A draft document drawn up by Egypt before the talks outlined a one-year halt to “armed activities” but upheld the right to resist occupation and retain Arafat as leader. Palestinians said this meant ending military action but not civil disobedience.
Hamas, Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a collection of armed groups within Fatah that is not attending the talks, have previously insisted on a mutual cease-fire, with an end to Israel’s killing of militant commanders and an Israeli Army withdrawal from populated Palestinian areas.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has himself said the success of a Palestinian commitment to end violence depended on a similar commitment from Israel to halt its military campaign.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Hamas delegation member Osama Hamdan said that a halt to anti-Israeli attacks was “unacceptable”. “Our position is known: it is unacceptable to speak of an end to all forms of resistance against the Israeli occupation,” he said.
“This rejection is both on the political and active aspect of the resistance,” Hamdan said in a reference to Palestinian attacks against Israeli targets. (R)
