"We must not let this new momentum toward peace lag," Powell

WASHINGTON, June 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Saturday, June 14, the Israelis and Palestinians must "punch through this current wave of violence" and not allow the roadmap for peace to be torn apart, while an Israeli special unit shot dead Sunday, June 15, another Palestinian.

"We have no choice but to move forward," Agence France-Presse (quoted Powell as telling an annual meeting of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

"If we don't take this opportunity to punch through this wave of violence, then where are we? We are nowhere, with two peoples killing each other day after day after day," he said.

Powell, who travels to the region for a June 22 meeting of the international "quartet" grouping that drew up the roadmap, used the same metaphor Friday, June 13, when talking to reporters outside the State Department.

"We can argue about the cycle, about how to get out of the cycle, but the reality is we must end terror and violence. We must move forward. We must take this chance for peace, and the United States will not get weary, we will not waver, we will not stop and we will not step aside," he said.

"The men, women and children of that region have too much to gain to let peace slip through their fingers once again . . . too much to gain to let terrorists and rejectionists pluck peace from their grasp," he added.

President George W. Bush, who attended summits in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt and in Aqaba, Jordan, earlier this month, "is totally committed to the vision of two states . . . two peoples . . . living side by side in peace," said Powell. "What is the alternative?"

"There will be bumps along the way," he cautioned. "But let us make this our mantra: 'There is too much to gain.'"

"We must not let this new momentum toward peace lag," he said. "The parties must turn the 'courageous commitments to peace' made at the two summits to peace on the ground. This is no time for promises. The two sides must now perform.

"Israel must meet Prime Minister (Ariel) Sharon's commitments on settlements and begin improving conditions for the Palestinians. In its actions it must bolster Prime Minister (Mahmmoud) Abbas (of the Palestinians) as a partner for peace," he said.

'Major Obstacle'

But Powell said Abbas "must also meet his commitments at Aqaba, first and foremost" to end what he called "terrorist attacks against Israelis."

Hamas, along with along with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the al Aqsa Marytrs Brigade, are "a major obstacle to peace," Powell said.

Attacks from these groups are "only putting off the day of Palestinian independence," he said.

Powell had muted words of caution for Israel, saying it "has to defend itself, but it also needs to do so in a manner that does not harm its interests in the long-term pursuit of peace."

On Thursday, June 12, Powell demanded Arab states to crack down hard on Palestinian resistance factions especially Hamas.

For their part, Palestinian resistance groups said Tuesday, June 10, the failed Israeli attempt on the life of Hamas senior leader Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi was a "coup de grace" in the heart of the U.S.-driven roadmap for Mideast peace.

Another Fighter Killed

Meanwhile, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian fighter Sunday in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, AFP reported according to Palestinian medical sources and witnesses said.

An undercover unit entered the home of 30-year-old Rafat al-Zaani, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and shot him dead, the sources said.

An ensuing exchange of fire with other gunmen left two of them wounded, they added.

Zaani's death brought to 3,345 the number of people killed since the September 2000 outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada, including 2,520 Palestinians and 765 Israelis, according to an AFP count.

Israeli helicopter gunship killed at least another member of Hamas in a fresh raid on Gaza on Friday, June 13.

The raid on densely-populated al-Sabra neighborhood also left more than 22 others, including eight children in Gaza, wounded, few hours after two others were killed in the northern West Bank of Jenin.

The attack came hard on the heels of the assassination of Yasser Taha, a Hamas cadre, his wife and three-year-old daughter in the densely populated area of Sheikh Radwan in Gaza. Four civilians were also killed at the raid.

In another development, the Israeli army announced late Saturday that the Israeli man who was shot dead in the northern West Bank town of Jenin on Friday was an Israeli soldier.

Mordechai Sayada, 21, was shot dead by Palestinian gunmen during an operation in Jenin.

"He was shot dead by Palestinian terrorists during an activity in the city of Jenin," a spokesman told AFP, saying the man's family had been informed.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to AFP.

Palestinian witnesses said the man was shot in the head at close range and later evacuated by Israeli ambulance.