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Palestinians
conduct their Friday prayers in an area of eastern Jerusalem
where a Jewish settlement is scheduled to be built
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, June 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Two Jewish
settlers and a Palestinian died Saturday in an attack on the Jewish West
Bank settlement of Karnei Tzur, built on land occupied by Israel in
1967, an Israeli military spokesman, news agencies reported.
In
a pre-dawn attack Saturday, two Palestinians opened fire on trailers in
the settlement south of Bethlehem in the West Bank, killing an Israeli
couple and wounding four other settlers, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
Soldiers
guarding the settlement returned fire, killing one of the attackers
while the second escaped toward nearby Palestinian villages. The Israeli
army sealed off the sector, the spokesman said.
The
spokesman blamed Arafat's Palestinian Authority for the attack, accusing
it of "doing nothing to prevent such terrorist acts." Such
operations against Jewish settlements are not generally condemned by the
authority which says they are legitimate, unlike attacks on civilians in
Israeli territory.
The
United Nations Security Council has issued two resolutions, 242 and 338
which calls for the Israeli withdrawal of all territories occupied in
1967.
The
European Union (EU) has also barred trade with the areas occupied by
Israel in 1967. “Products originating in the Israeli settlements in
the West-Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, by
Notice published on 23 November 2001 (OJ C 328 p.6), the Commission has
drawn importers' attention to the fact that these cannot benefit from
the preferential import regime established in favor of products
originating in Israel,” the EU says on its website.
Early
Friday, some 50 Israeli tanks stormed back into the town of Jenin,
Palestinian sources said.
Tanks
also entered the towns of Qabatiya and Jaba, south of Jenin, with four
helicopters opening fire and wounding three Palestinians, the sources
said.
Israeli
military sources described Friday's Jenin operation as "routine
patrols," adding that "occasional clashes had taken
place."
The
Israelis have been recently opting for daily incursions into Palestinian
areas rather than a lengthy re-occupation of the West Bank like
Operation Defensive Wall that stretched from March 29 to May 10, AFP
reported.
Israel
sent a strong message to President Arafat Thursday with a ferocious
six-hour attack on his Ramallah compound before abruptly withdrawing.
Commenting
on the repeated Israeli incursions into Palestinian towns, President Arafat’s
top advisor Nabil Abu Rudeina said Friday: “the continuing aggression
and military escalation demonstrate Israel has not stopped challenging
the international community.”
He
added that Israel "was far from convinced of the necessity to find
a political solution", and that it was necessary to revive peace
talks on the basis of land for peace.
"There
are foundations to the peace process, and (Israel) must return to them
and to the negotiating table without conditions", he added.
On
February 19, a group of high-ranking Israeli security officials
announced that they will campaign for a unilateral withdrawal from the
Palestinian occupied territories.
The
campaign was based on a proposal by the Council for Peace and Security
calling for an immediate pullback from the Gaza Strip and most of the
West Bank, reported AFP.
It
envisages the dismantling of 40 Jewish settlements and the immediate
establishment of a Palestinian state.
It
also calls for the start of negotiations with the Palestinians, without
the precondition that violence first be stopped.
The
group includes 1,000 top-level reserve generals, colonels and officials
from the internal and external security agencies, Shin Bet and Mossad,
reported BBC’s online news service.
