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More Deadly Violence Rocks Gaza Despite Security Talks
JERUSALEM, April 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Deadly violence rocked the Palestinian territories Thursday despite a U.S.-hosted meeting of security chiefs aimed at ending the Palestinian revolt against Israeli occupation after a dramatic escalation in tit-for-tat attacks.
Witnesses reported raging gunfights at Rafah and in the Beit Jala area, while at a school in nearby al-Khader medical sources said a seven-year-old schoolgirl was hit in the face with a rubber-coated steel bullet when Israeli soldiers opened fire on demonstrators near the school.
News agencies report that in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian farmer, 35-year-old Hafez Subah, was shot and killed by Israeli troops while walking near the Gush Katif block of Jewish settlements, Palestinian police said. A second man was also injured at the site. Police said the shooting was unprovoked and that there were no clashes at the time.
Israel, which has adopted a no-holds-barred approach to the violence in recent weeks, hit back strongly to the wounding of its soldiers, firing tank shells on the Rafah refugee camp on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and on the village of Beit Jala near Bethlehem, Palestinians said.
Middle East peace process co-sponsors the United States and Russia issued a joint appeal for calm Thursday, the day after Israel launched a massive ground assault deep into Palestinian-ruled territory, the first such operation since the uprising began more than six months ago.
"To avoid a further deterioration, Russia and the U.S. call on both sides to take parallel and reciprocal steps to reduce the violence, calm the situation and create an environment in which both sides can find a way forward," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov said in a statement after meeting in Paris.
And U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who has been in contact in recent days with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, urged both sides to take "urgent steps" to quell the rising violence.
At Wednesday's security meeting, the Palestinians said Israel pledged to take steps to ease its choking blockade of the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, amid heightened international pressure for a halt to the raging violence that has cost more than 470 lives.
Israeli officials said the meeting at U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk's residence, which will be followed up by a further round of talks Monday, was held in a "positive atmosphere."
"Israel put forward just one demand: an end to the violence," Israeli government spokesman Gideon Saar told army radio.
But Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo warned that the Palestinians had not exhausted all means at their disposal in their six-month-old revolt.
"Until now we have not used all our means of confrontation," he told reporters. "We will act on the ground and on the international and Arab levels."
In an interview published Thursday, Sharon said that he did not intend to retake Palestinian land and that he saw a "softening" in Arafat's stance, but that Israel would continue to act against "terror."
Israel said it sent tanks into the Khan Yunis camp inside Palestinian-ruled territory late Tuesday as a "defensive" action to destroy buildings it said were used by Palestinians to fire mortars on Jewish settlements and Israeli army posts.
In the interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, which was conducted last month, Sharon said he thought Arafat was beginning to understand that there would be no negotiations under fire, BBC reports.
"There is a shift in his position. He is beginning to soften," the 73-year-old former general said. "In my opinion, we can look forward with optimism."
"I won't go back into Gaza or Nablus or Ramallah. That is unimaginable for me. I don't intend holding on to any Palestinian territory," he said.
But he warned that those planning attacks would find that they "are not immune" inside Palestinian territory.
"Those perpetrating the majority of actions against us are those forces under his full authority," he charged. "It is clear to me that Arafat is no friend of Israel."
But the chief Palestinian negotiator and a member of the Palestinian cabinet told CNN, "We heard [Sharon] say he has a plan. I don't think he was speaking about a peace plan. He was talking about a military plan," said Saeb Erakat. "... If this government thinks they can get to peace through the language of the missiles and the guns that is a big mistake."
Last Wednesday, the first formal security meeting since Sharon took office a month previously was marred when Israeli troops fired on the convoy of Palestinian officials returning to Gaza.
U.S.-sponsored security talks between Israeli and Palestinian security officials aimed at curbing the latest violence ended on Thursday morning with a promise to meet again next week, according to BBC.
Palestinian intelligence chief Amin al-Hindi said there was "some change" in the Israeli position at the security meeting, which he attended.
"They said they would take a number of gradual unilateral steps," Hindi told Voice of Palestine radio, including easing border restrictions, opening roads, increasing the number of Palestinians allowed to go to their jobs in Israel, and "attempting to lift the siege on towns in the West Bank."
"The ball is in their court now. We're waiting for these measures to be implemented on the ground," said Hindi.
The Palestinians say their economy has suffered losses of $3.86 billion due to the Israeli blockade, which prevents more than 120,000 Palestinians working in Israel, and impedes movement between Palestinian towns.
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