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Peace Talks To Continue As 10-Year-Old Palestinian Child Dies
GAZA CITY (News Agencies) - Palestinians and Israelis are due to resume negotiations Monday, but the lead up to the talks were again overshadowed by violence, death and the apparent kidnapping of an Israeli settler.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said late Sunday that negotiations with Israel would resume in a follow up to the meeting attended by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres Saturday in Gaza.
But there were mixed signals over their success on a day of varied incidents underscoring the fragile nature of the current climate for talking.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat vowed the peace process would survive the deadline of U.S. President Clinton leaving office Saturday next week.
"The two parties realize the most important thing is to continue the peace process, that it must not collapse," Erakat told CNN.
However, he doubted "very much any agreement can be reached before January 20th or February 6th," in reference to both Clinton's final day in office and the Israeli elections for prime minister.
Despite talks scheduled for Monday, a joint security meeting with Israeli officials planned for Sunday was cancelled by the Palestinians.
An unnamed Palestinian official said the cancellation was because "we want to continue discussions of a political nature and not be limited to security."
"There will not be any security cooperation until Israel begins to put an end to the occupation," the official said.
On the ground, there were numerous incidents highlighting the tension.
A 10-year-old Palestinian boy died Sunday after being shot and seriously wounded 10 days earlier by Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Ramallah, bringing the death toll from the violence since September 28 to 377, most of them Palestinian.
An Israeli military army spokesman confirmed that an Israeli settler had disappeared in the southern Gaza Strip, sparking suspicion he had been kidnapped.
His car was located through its electronic tag to an area under the Palestinian Authority's full control
The Israeli army started huge search operations in the Gush Katif sector, which contains a group of settlements in the southern Gaza Strip.
During these operations, Palestinians fired towards an Israeli armored car, which responded by opening fire, public television reported.
According to Palestinian officials, the Israeli army blocked the three main roads in the Gaza Strip, making all traffic movement virtually impossible in the region.
Israeli helicopters fired rocket flares above the town of Khan Younes, next to Gush Katif, to try to find the exact position of the settler's car.
A Palestinian policeman was shot and wounded during an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers in the Gush Katif sector, Palestinian sources added.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank town of Hebron Sunday, thousands of Palestinians joined an angry funeral for a Palestinian killed by Israeli forces two days earlier.
The crowd chanted nationalist slogans as posters plastered on buildings showed a photo of the dead Palestinian, Shaker Hassouni, being dragged by three Israeli soldiers. A grinning soldier is seen holding a handgun in one hand that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) say belonged to Hassouni.
In further violence, a 42-year-old Israeli woman was stabbed and seriously wounded Sunday in Gilo, a Jewish settlement adjacent to east Jerusalem. A police source said the attacker, believed to
be a Palestinian, fled to the neighboring town of Beit Jala.
The woman was taken to Jerusalem's Ein Kerem Hospital, where her condition was listed as serious. Israeli forces immediately began searching for the assailant.
The Palestinian Authority meanwhile moved four Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel to Gaza City after turning themselves in. Palestinian Justice Minister Freih Abu Meddein said a court case could follow immediately and said the unidentified collaborators would not face further prosecution if the information they provide is truthful.
Two Palestinians were executed for collaborating with Israel Saturday, the first to face capital punishment for that charge since the Palestinian Authority was created in 1994.
The same day, a Palestinian security court sentenced another two Palestinians to death Saturday for collaborating with Israel in the killing of a leader in Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction. Another two Palestinians in the same case were sentenced to life in prison.
Saturday's executions were sharply condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, in a statement after a cabinet meeting.
"Sadly the Palestinian Authority, which wants to be recognized internationally, conducts trials that are parodies of justice and recall the darkest periods in history," Barak said in a statement released by his office.
Meanwhile, Barak's already tenuous political position was further undermined at home, with Health Minister Roni Milo resigning in protest at the prime minister's acceptance of the Clinton's peace plan.
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