Tuesday, Jul 01, 2003
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Palestinian policemen take control of security while Israeli soldiers remove cement block barricades from the main road of Deir El-Balah near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, southern Gaza Strip, on Monday. — AP
In line with a U.S.-backed peace plan, Israel pulled troops out of northern Gaza late Sunday, and agreed to withdraw from the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Wednesday. And in another reflection of the bid to end 33 months of fighting, the sides' Prime Ministers — Ariel Sharon of Israel and Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority — were to meet in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Palestinian sources said. Several Palestinian militant groups announced a suspension of attacks against Israelis on Sunday. But the first full day of truce was marred by the killing of a Bulgarian construction worker. The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry identified him as Krastyu Petkov Radkov (46), who was driving a truck. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militia affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility. Three hours later, Palestinians opened fire on workers building a security fence near the West Bank town of Qalqiliya, the military said. No one was hurt, and soldiers returned the fire. Settlers called for a halt to Israeli gestures to the Palestinians, but Mr. Sharon counselled patience, noting that the process had started only a day before. ``Even if the Palestinians were the fastest in the world and the most determined, you can't expect them to destroy terrorism in a moment, since this morning,'' he told MPs. Even before that, both sides were skeptical the cease-fire will hold, having been disappointed so many times before — and a dispute loomed over Israel's demand that the Palestinian Authority dismantle the militant groups altogether. But there was also a first glimmer of optimism as Israeli troops pulled out of Beit Hanoun, which had seen most of its farmland razed by Israeli bulldozers. ``You were late,'' Mohammed Shabat (65), pointing to the destruction, told Palestinian policemen who took over the Israeli positions. ``But, God willing, we will bring this town back to the old days.'' ``This is a very important and serious step by the Israeli side toward the implementation of the road map,'' said the Palestinian Information Minister, Nabil Amr. And the Foreign Minister, Nabil Shaath, said Israel should withdraw from all West Bank towns within six weeks. ``Things are promising and we must seize this moment,'' he said. The two largest Israeli dailies, Yediot Ahronot and Maariv, framed their front-pages in blue, normally reserved for editions on Jewish holidays. ``Cease-fire,'' read a banner headline in the Maariv daily, above a photo of two soldiers hugging in Gaza. The withdrawal scenes were reminiscent of the mid-1990s, when Israeli troops pulled out of Palestinian population centers as part of interim peace deals.
— AP
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