OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, September 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - An Israeli
illegal settler died of his wounds Monday, September 23, after being hit
along with three others in a holiday shooting in the West Bank city of
Al-Khalil (Hebron), settler sources said. Meanwhile, as Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat rejected Israel's terms for lifting its siege of
his battered Headquarters.
The
four casualties, two of them children, were all members of the same
family which had traveled to the flashpoint city for the Jewish festival
of Sukkot, an Israeli army official said earlier.
One
or two Palestinian gunmen had opened fire on the family from the Old
City as they visited the adjacent Jewish enclave of Avraham Avinu,
Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
Some
600 illegal Jewish settlers insist to live in enclaves in Al-Khalil
among around 120,000 Palestinians. A curfew had been imposed on the city
along with other West Bank towns for the Sukkot holiday.
Israel
has withdrawn from 80% of Al-Khalil under an agreement with the
Palestinian Authority, although it still occupies an enclave surrounding
the Ibrahimi Mosque where 600 illegal Israeli settlers live.
The
latest Palestinian retaliatory attack comes as the Israeli occupation
army surrounds the Palestinian President's Headquarters in reoccupied
Ramallah, putting him under siege and threatening his personal safety
along with 250 of his Authority and security forces.
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President
Arafat refused to give Israel the list it demanded because it did
not want a “second Bethlehem”
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President
Arafat rejected Monday Israel's terms for lifting its siege of his
battered Headquarters as the world community increased pressure on
far-right Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, AFP said.
Arafat's
rejection of Israel's demand for a list of names of 250 Palestinian
officials and security forces holed up with him also came as the U.N.
Security Council debated the crisis in New York and Greece announced a
delegation from the four main diplomatic players was heading to the
region in a bid to calm the crisis.
"We
and President Arafat reject all Israeli conditions," Local Minister
and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP after briefing the
Palestinian President about his earlier meeting with army officers at
Israel's Beit El base just outside this West Bank town.
"The
Israeli side asked us to take the names of the people in [the
Headquarters]. We reject this from the Israeli side," Erakat said.
It
was not only the first meeting between the two sides aimed at ending the
four-day siege, but it was also the first time that Arafat had been
allowed to receive colleagues from outside his shattered compound.
"I
saw the situation is very bad and very dangerous inside," Erakat
said in a phone conversation with AFP, referring to fears the building
could collapse.
Israel
stormed Arafat's compound Thursday, September 19, tearing down
everything around his office after he refused to hand over some 20
members of his Authority that Israel accuses of alleged links to
resistance groups.
The
73-year-old President delivered a defiant speech by telephone Monday to
some 3,000 Palestinian students who gathered at Bethlehem university to
demonstrate their support.
"The
situation is dangerous, but the people can face all dangers. The
Palestinian people has seen more dangerous situations than this and
won," Arafat said from his besieged Headquarters.
Students
waved the veteran leader's portrait, as his voice was relayed through
massive speakers in the university yard.
Other
signs of support for Arafat took shape as Palestinians in Gaza and Arab
east Jerusalem shut up shop or skipped class in line with a strike call,
while the 22-member Arab League in Cairo appealed for U.N. help.
A
European Union official said the Palestinian leadership was refusing to
give Israel the list it was demanding because it did not want a
"second Bethlehem," referring to a deal to end a previous
Israeli siege which sent Palestinian freedom fighters into exile and
Arafat's popularity plunging.
Washington,
meanwhile, appeared to be toughening its stance as the Greek government
announced that delegates from the United States as well as the European
Union, Russia and the United Nations, were headed to the region Monday.
