WASHINGTON,
December 29, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – With
Israel continuing its escalation against Palestinians in Gaza and West
Bank, prompting a retaliatory bombing Thursday, December 29, the
Mideast Quartet called for any future Palestinian government not to
include members of groups "not committed to Israel's right to
exist".
"The
Quartet expressed its view that a future Palestinian Authority Cabinet
should include no member who has not committed to the principles of
Israel's right to exist in peace and security and an unequivocal end
to violence and terrorism," the Quartet said in a statement
Wednesday, December 28, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
statement of the international committee, which groups the United
States, European Union, the United Nations and Russia, was referring
to the resistance group Hamas, but without naming it.
Hamas,
which is putting up candidates for parliament for the first time, is
expected to do well against President Mahmoud Abbas's fractured Fatah
in the January legislative polls.
The
Quartet statement drew rebuke from the resistance group Hamas.
"The
statement is a flagrant intervention in the Palestinian internal
affairs," Ismail Haniyah, a Hamas leader, told the Doha-based
Al-Jazeera Thursday.
He
said that the statement was contradictory as it called for barring
certain groups from taking part in the January polls.
EU
Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said December 18, that if Hamas won
the elections, it would be "very difficult that help and the
money that goes to ... the Palestinian Authority will continue to
flow".
In
a resolution approved on December 16, the US House of Representatives
threatened the PA that it risked losing US financial aid and other
support if it allowed Hamas to contest the legislative polls.
The
Quartet, which has drafted the Middle East "roadmap" peace
plan, also urged Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to end what it said
attacks from armed groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"The
Quartet noted the continued importance of security in this regard, and
calls on the Palestinian Authority to take immediate steps to ensure
law and order, prevent terrorist attacks and dismantle the
infrastructure of terrorism."
Al-Quds
Vote
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Palestinians wait at an Israeli army checkpoint after the bomb explosion near Tulkarm. (Reuters)
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The
international group further urged both Israel and the Palestinian
Authority to work together to ensure Palestinian residents in occupied
Al-Quds (East Jerusalem) to cast ballot in the Jan. 25 polls.
"Both
parties should work to put in place a mechanism to allow Palestinians
resident in Jerusalem to exercise their legitimate democratic rights,
in conformity with existing precedent."
Last
week, Israel said it would not allow Al-Quds residents to vote in
legislative elections because Hamas was taking part in the campaign.
But
a senior Israeli official said Monday that Israel was considering
dropping the threatened ban.
All
Palestinian resistance factions said they would participate in the
polls, except Islamic Jihad which chose to boycott the process.
Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed to disrupt the January elections
if Hamas fielded candidates in the polls.
Escalating
Bloodshed
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An Israeli soldier was also killed in the bombing.
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On
the ground, Israeli artillery batteries and warplanes continued to
bombard the northern Gaza Strip Thursday to enforce a "no-go
zone" it says is aimed to stop cross-border Palestinian rocket
attacks.
"Our
aircraft attacked six roads in the north of the Gaza Strip leading to
sites from where it is possible to launch Qassam rockets against
Israel, and our artillery batteries fired about 30 shells at the
sector," said a military spokeswoman.
Earlier,
the Israeli military airdropped leaflets over Gaza, written in Arabic
with an accompanying map indicating the extent of the zone. It warned
Palestinians to keep out of the area or else endanger their lives.
Israel
has already stepped up offensive against the Palestinian areas and
launched missiles and artillery fire at suspected launching areas,
killing several Palestinian activists in recent months.
The
incessant Israeli attacks have prompted sporadic revenge attacks from
Palestinian resistance groups.
On
Thursday, a Palestinian bomber blew himself up at a mobile roadblock
in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm.
The
attack left one Israeli soldier and at least two Palestinians killed,
Reuters quoted military sources as saying.
Three
Israeli soldiers and six Palestinians were also wounded in the blast.
Israel
Radio said that the Palestinian group of Islamic Jihad was responsible
for the attack. But the report was not confirmed by any of the group's
officials.
Thursday's
bombing dealt a blow to a shaky 10-month-old truce between the
Palestinian resistance groups and Israel, due to expire Saturday, the
last day of 2005.
Palestinian
resistance factions have been observing a de facto truce since
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was elected in January, an
agreement that was cemented at talks brokered by Egypt last March.
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