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Israel Must Withdraw to Avoid Bomb Attacks; Palestinians
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Arafat |
BEIRUT, May 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) political chief Faruq Qaddumi warned Friday that if Israel does not withdraw from Palestinian territory a new wave of suicide bombings will hit the Jewish state.
Qaddumi, a founding member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that "If Israel does not withdraw from the Palestinian territories, the martyr operations will resume as well as other types of resistance operations.
His comments came after Arafat released statements denouncing attacks on Israel following a May 7 bomb attack in Israel that left 17 dead and 55 injured, news agencies reported.
Meanwhile, Arafat said Friday elections will be held in the Palestinian territories after "the end to the occupation of our lands" by the Israeli army.
He made the remark during comments about the Israeli invasion of the West Bank that began on March 29, AFP reported.
According to AFP, Qaddumi will represent the Palestinian Authority and PLO at an Arab League committee meeting in Beirut Saturday on the Saudi peace plan adopted by the 22-member pan-Arab organization at its March summit in Beirut.
The Saudi plan calls for a full Arab peace and normal relations with Israel, in return for the Jewish state's withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
Foreign Ministers from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Yemen, as well as Arab League Chief Amr Mussa, are set to attend Saturday's session.
Meanwhile, spokesman of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Friday that resistance bomb attacks will keep striking Israel until a Palestinian state is created.
"The martyr operations as well as the resistance will continue until the building of a Palestinian state," Ossama Hamdan, told a crowd of 5,000 at a rally at the Al-Bass Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon, according to AFP.
Hamdan also criticized the Palestinian Authority for recent moves that have turned Palestinian resistance fighters over to international custody, warning "those who reached such a deal and imprisoned Palestinian freedom fighters are not worthy of the confidence of the Palestinian people."
Six Palestinian activists were jailed under international guard in the West Bank city of Jericho on May 1, in return for Israel's lifting of its month-long house arrest of Arafat in Ramallah.
Last Friday, Israel's 38-day siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity ended with 13 Palestinian activists transferred temporarily to Cyprus, where they are waiting for various European countries to take them into exile.
A Palestinian official said Thursday Hamas told Saudi Arabia it was willing to stop suicide bombings on Israeli territory.
However, a senior Hamas leader denied the claims. "This information is false. Hamas' choice remains one of resistance in all forms while Palestinian territory is under occupation," Ismael Abu Shanab, one of the top leaders of the Islamic group in the Gaza Strip said.
"Hamas has not been contacted by anyone on the issue," Abu Shanab added.
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