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Israel
Abducts 12 Palestinians As Arafat Heads To UN
GAZA
CITY, Nov 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli troops abducted 12
Palestinians in an overnight raid in the West Bank as Palestinian Authority
President Yasser Arafat prepared to address the United Nations General Assembly,
news agencies reported.
Arafat traveled to New York Saturday to
highlight the "dangerous situation resulting from the Israeli military
escalation despite international efforts ... to rescue the peace process,"
top adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In the meantime, the Israeli army detained 12
Palestinians in a raid into two villages near the Palestinian-ruled West Bank
city, Jenin, early Saturday, Palestinian sources said.
The same sources added that the Israeli forces,
including at least 11 tanks, invaded Araqa and Hashimiya, then immediately
imposed a curfew.
During the incursion, the Israeli forces
demolished two houses in Araqa and a barrier of the Palestinian security forces
in Hashimiya.
Israel confirmed the military operation. It
claimed that one of the two houses its forces raided was owned by Nazer Muhamad
Gamad, a member of the Fatah movement.
Israel alleged that Gamad opened fire last
month at passersby near a bus station in Afula, a town close to Jenin. An
Israeli soldier was killed and two civilians were wounded in the attack.
Israel also claimed that Saturday’s operation
was in response to the killing of an Israeli woman Friday, near the
Palestinian-ruled community of Yabed. Members of Fatah's military wing claimed
responsibility for the killing.
The Israeli army said its forces withdrew from
the Palestinian ruled-territory after the operation.
Also
Saturday, two Israeli tanks and a bulldozer invaded Palestinian-ruled territory
in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
"This morning Israeli tanks went into Zone A in the al-Amal neighborhood
near the Khan Yunis refugee camp,” a senior Palestinian security official told
AFP. “They went close to people's home without any reason." He added that
there had been no recent incidents to provoke the incursion.
Zone A refers to areas under full Palestinian administrative and security
control.
The
Israeli military operations came shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell said he hoped to "jump-start" the peace process.
Powell suggested that Israel had to be prepared
to give up land for peace, in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The Secretary of State said he would like to
meet P.A. President Yasser Arafat when the United Nations General Assembly
convenes in New York Saturday.
Palestinian sources said no meeting had been
scheduled.
U.S. President George W. Bush has refused to
meet the Arafat, BBC’s online service reported.
Powell said the president would meet Arafat
"in due course, when the time is right".
Bush's refusal to meet Arafat at the U.N. was
met with angry comments by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal.
In an interview with the New York Times,
published Friday ahead of a meeting with Bush and Powell, Prince Saud said
Riyadh was "angrily frustrated" with Washington's position.
"The thing that is so sad is that what is
needed to make peace is very little," he said. The Saudi foreign minister
noted that Bush has met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but not
Arafat.
Bush "cannot be an honest broker and only
meet with one side," added the prince.
In response, Powell disputed the minister's
assertion that Bush's decision "makes a sane man go mad."
"Anybody who works on the Middle East on
one day or another might feel the tendency to be extremely frustrated and angry
and annoyed," Powell said. "It happens to me all the time (but) we all
are in this together and we're all going to move forward together to bring peace
to this region."
Prince Saud's comments were apparently sparked
by harsh criticism of Arafat by U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
She accused the Palestinian leader Thursday of failing to do enough to stop what
she called “terrorism” and said that Bush had "no plans" to
meet with him at the United Nations.
Meanwhile, Israeli public radio said Friday a
meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres to discuss a new initiative they are trying to hammer out could take place
late Saturday.
Earlier this week, Peres announced that he was
working with Sharon to find common ground on a plan. There are doubts the two
men will be able to overcome enough of their differences to forge a viable plan.
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