OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 4 May 2003 — A senior Palestinian official accused Israel yesterday of escalating violence in the Palestinian areas in order to block implementation of an international peace plan officially unveiled this week.
The accusation, by Nabil Abu Rudeinah, a key aide to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, came amid a report that Israeli and Palestinian officials are working to arrange a meeting between Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas.
Israeli officials were quoted by Israel Radio as saying they expected the parleys would take place soon. Abbas, the first-ever Palestinian premier, was inaugurated this week. His swearing-in allowed the long-awaited road map peace plan to be presented to the sides.
The plan, drafted by the quartet of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, calls on the sides to take a series of mutual steps to end violence and restart peace talks.
But Abu Rudeinah told Voice of Palestine Radio that recent Israeli operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, launched hours after the plan was presented to the sides Wednesday and aimed at capturing “wanted” militants, proved Israel was trying to sabotage the plan.
“The latest Israeli military escalation against our people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as the political escalation against our leadership, certainly aims at blocking the implementation of the plan,” he charged.
He told Voice of Palestine Radio that the Israeli government “proves by carrying out crimes against our people that it is not interested in returning to the negotiating table”. Seventeen Palestinians were killed in the army actions.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Abdallah and US President George W. Bush discussed the Middle East peace process and developments in Iraq during a telephone conversation yesterday, the official Petra news agency reported.
Bush underscored US commitment to “make all necessary efforts to relaunch the peace process in accordance with principles contained in the road map”, Petra said.
President Bush also called his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak to discuss the road map yesterday, the news agency Mena reported.
The talks centered on “the American president’s interest in putting maximum effort into giving peace a chance of succeeding in the Middle East”, Mena said, emphasizing that the two leaders had agreed to “pursue their coordination on the issue”.
Also yesterday, a Palestinian youth was seriously wounded by Israeli gunfire during an incursion by the army into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security and hospital sources reported. A two-story house was destroyed by the Israeli military in the operation, the sources added.
Meanwhile, Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders condemned yesterday the shooting of a British journalist by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and called on Israel to bring those responsible to justice.
“We are dismayed by James Miller’s death, which took place on the eve of World Press Freedom day today,” RSF Secretary General Robert Menard said in a statement.
