RAMALLAH, 24 May 2004 — Palestinian Communications Minister Azzam El-Ahmed yesterday rejected an Israeli offer to compensate families whose houses in the southern Gaza town of Rafah near the border with Egypt were demolished by the Israeli Army.
The offer is a “totally rejected solution,” El-Ahmed told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
“It is not Israel’s right to decide where the Palestinians should live or build their houses,” he said. “If Israel really wants to, there is an elected Palestinian leadership it can contact.”
Expressing doubt about Israel’s “good intentions”, he added: “The Israeli announcement of compensation is meant to absorb the anger of the Palestinians and public opinion in the world”.
Israeli media reported yesterday that the Israeli Army proposed the idea of compensation in a discussion with the attorney-general about the legal aspects of a plan to destroy hundreds more homes in Rafah in order to widen Israel’s “Philadelphi” buffer route. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Army Chief of Staff reportedly back the proposal.
