Bush’s meeting with Abbas, Sharon is to come out with no joint statements, said an Israeli official

OCCUPIEDJERUSALEM, June 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As Israeli occupation forces killed one Palestinian and injured two others, an Israeli official said on Monday, May 3, that the Middle East peace summit in Jordan will produce no joint statement because of basic differences on the way ahead.

"There will be no common statement because we have reached no prior agreement on the text, despite the efforts of U.S. diplomacy," the senior official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Official Palestinian sources confirmed the two parties had been unable to reach a deal on the planned statement despite mediation by U.S. Middle East envoy William Burns.

The fundamental differences concerned "the recognition by the Palestinians of Israel as a Jewish state, in exchange for full recognition of a Palestinian state," the Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.

The summit is to be attended by U.S. President George W. Bush, who hoped that he would be able to secure a settlement to the long-standing tension after the invasion of Iraq in his talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian Culture Minister Ziad Abu Amer, who is negotiating with resistance groups to declare a truce with Israel said on Sunday that it would be too soon to announce a deal at the upcoming Middle East peace summit in Jordan.

‘No Agreement’

Many Arab peoples felt anger over the U.S. inaction to push Israel to end occupation of Palestinian territories in contrast with precipitating the attack against Iraq.

On Thursday, May 29, an advisor to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said the two sides would publish a joint statement on the international peace roadmap after they meet in the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba on Wednesday, June 4.

According to Israeli public radio, the Israeli statement will only mention a Palestinian state in reference to "President Bush's vision" on the issue.

Bush spelt out his vision on two states, Israel and Palestinian, living side by side in peace and security within recognized borders.

In his statement, Sharon is also expected to stress the need for Israel to put an end to its "rule" over the Palestinians, without using the term "occupation".

Sharon shocked Israel last week when he signaled that he is serious about ending tension with the Palestinians and willing to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza- unusually for him describing Israel's military presence in the Palestinian territories as an "occupation".

"I think that the idea of keeping 3.5 million Palestinians under occupation is the worst thing for Israel, for the Palestinians and also for the Israeli economy," Sharon had been quoted as saying.

But Palestinian resistance groups slammed the statements as a “political trick” meant to disarm them of their weapons for the purpose of ending their attacks against Israeli targets in the struggle for independence.

Palestinian groups said they are ready to lay down their arms if Israeli occupation forces pulled out of Palestinian territories, all now under Israeli control, and halted aggressions against innocent Palestinians.

Following Sharon’s outcry his comments caused among his right-wing supporters, he revised his words and stressed that the appropriate term was "the disputed territories".

Sharon is also expected Wednesday to announce the dismantling of a number of Jewish settlement outposts set up since he took power in March 2001, but not all of them as requested by the U.S.-baked roadmap.

Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim has said no more than 10 of the settlements built on Palestinian land are slated for evacuation, among the more than 60 counted by the Peace Now group.

On Palestinian Dead, Two Boys Injured

On the ground, Two Palestinian boys were seriously wounded Sunday when Israeli troops opened fire on a band of young stone throwers, Palestinian medical and security sources said on Sunday.

A seven-year-old boy was in serious condition after being shot in the back, while another was seriously wounded by a bullet to the head after troops opened fire with machineguns from a tank in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun, the sources said.

The age of the second child was not immediately available. A 20-year-old man was also lightly wounded in the shooting, they said.

Meanwhile, further south, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian gunman, Mahmud Abu Amra, 22, who opened fire on soldiers near the Kissufim border crossing in central Gaza, an army spokesman said.

His death brings to 3,274 the number of people killed since the September 2000 outbreak of the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation, including 2,472 Palestinians and 742 Israelis.