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Israel, Palestinians Agree to Ceasefire in Beit Jala
BEIT JALA, West Bank, Aug 29 (News Agencies) - Israel and the Palestinians agreed Wednesday to a ceasefire over the West Bank town of Beit Jala, after Israel's longest invasion of the uprising became bogged down by armed resistance and growing international criticism.
But no sooner was the truce announced than shooting resumed, with bullets hitting the neighboring Jewish settlement of Gilo, whose protection was the main aim of the Israeli invasion, Israeli police said.
Palestinian security officials said the exchanges of fire, to which the Israelis responded with tank shells, started when their fighters shot in the air in celebration at hearing the news of the truce.
The Israelis heard the shooting and fired back, they said.
Israeli police said that the shooting was "towards Gilo," and stressed that no damage or injuries had been caused.
It was not immediately clear if the confused fighting would bury the truce before it was even put into effect, and by 11:00 p.m. (2000 GMT) Israel troops had not yet pulled out of Beit Jala.
There were no reports of gunfire after 9:00 p.m. (1800 GMT), despite a threat by Palestinian forces to continue firing unless the troops pulled out.
Despite the Beit Jala ceasefire, Israel forces also made an incursion in the Palestinian refugee camp of Al Jalazun north of the West Bank town of Ramallah late Wednesday, witnesses said.
Israel's mini-cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and military officers, were to meet later to debate the situation in the West Bank hotspot.
Meanwhile, a serious gun battle broke out Wednesday night in Hebron, another volatile section of the West Bank, leaving dead a member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's elite Force 17 guards unit and 15 other Palestinians injured.
Abud Dabassi, 32, died at Ahli hospital in Hebron, Palestinian sources said.
An Israeli army spokesman told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the fighting began after Palestinian forces shot at Israeli positions in the center of Hebron.
The death raises the toll since the beginning of the Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, last September to 755, including 578 Palestinians and 155 Israelis.
The fragile Beit Jala ceasefire truce came after two days of skirmishes in the town, a mainly Christian area on the edge of Bethlehem, famous as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
A senior Israeli foreign ministry official said an agreement had been reached in principle after "a series of contacts between the two parties."
Foreign Minister Peres said the army should withdraw overnight Wednesday to Thursday if the shooting on Gilo finished.
The Israeli foreign minister and Arafat held two telephone conversations overnight, Palestinian officials said.
During the talks, Peres demanded a halt to all firing against the Jewish settlement of Gilo, in nearby east Jerusalem, while Arafat told him that Israeli forces must leave Beit Jala.
And Nabil Abu Rudeina, a top Arafat aide, said Arafat had later talked by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and his Belgian counterpart, Louis Michel.
The U.S. State Department said Powell urged Arafat "to do everything he can" to end the region's violence.
Visiting Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero was also reported to have played a role in the truce talks.
Sharon sent tanks into the town before dawn on Tuesday to stamp out Palestinian shooting on Gilo, making good on a promise he issued two weeks ago to storm the town if the firing did not halt.
The threat held until Israel shocked the Arab world on Monday by assassinating the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Abu Ali Mustafa, in a rocket attack on his office.
Israel said he was a dangerous "terrorist" and dubbed the assassination "self-defense," but the killing enraged Palestinians, who gunned down a Jewish settler and started shooting at Gilo in revenge.
A sudden upsurge in violence followed, with six Palestinians and two Israelis losing their lives in scattered shootings and tit-for-tat killings, while more than 20 people were injured.
Israel also sent heavy Armour into Rafah and the Dei El Balah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, razing or damaging around 30 buildings, while 16 Palestinians were hurt in intense clashes that erupted during a tank invasion into the Aida refugee camp next to Beit Jala.
Many observers saw the move into Beit Jala as a high-risk strategy for Sharon, as the Arab town with its largely Christian population is a sensitive site, close to Jerusalem and to the hearts of the Christian world.
Israel's most powerful ally, the United States, called on Israel to withdraw its forces, saying their latest invasion into a Palestinian-controlled area would "only make matters worse."
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