Occupation Troops Re-enter Qalqilya; Beitunya, First Palestinian Area Reverting to Full Israeli Control; Deporting Bombers' Families & Expelling Arafat Being Seriously Considered

23/06/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Occupation Army Tightens Grip on Palestinian Cities & Calls up a Reserve Brigade to Boost Fighting Capabilities Against Palestinian Resistance to Occupation||Israel Arrests a Fatah Leader in the Ramallah Area||Occupation Troops Close the Offices of an Islamic Aid Organization at Um al-Fahm|| EU Calls for Joint International Action in the Middle East|| German Paper: Egypt Trying to Develop Nuclear Weapons|| STORY: The occupation army sent tanks into the West Bank town of Kalkilya Sunday, tightening its grip on Palestinian areas, according to media reports.

Witnesses reported seeing 60 tanks entering several neighborhoods and a curfew was clamped on all residents, as soldiers launched house-to-house searches for so-called  'terror suspects.' 

CRUSHING OFFENSIVE THREATENED

Israel threatened on Saturday to launch what it calls a "crushing offensive" and impose an indefinite reoccupation of Palestinian areas unless bombing and shooting attacks against Israelis stopped.

Israeli occupation troops have poured into several Palestinian towns and cities in recent days, and as of Saturday night, remained in at least six places in the West Bank, where strict curfews were in force.

In two refugee camps on the edge of Nablus, Israeli fire wounded five Palestinians who were out during a temporary lifting of the curfew, Palestinian witnesses said.

Other West Bank towns occupied by Israeli troops were mostly quiet Saturday.

The Israeli government has endorsed a plan to gradually reoccupy Palestinian land until bombings and shootings stop.
The occupation army is to call a reserve brigade Sunday to boost regular troops fighting Palestinian Resistance to occupation.

Israeli forces also shot dead four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including a man who had thrown grenades at soldiers.

A five-week-long reoccupation of Palestinian West Bank areas in April and May led to the arrest of hundreds of Resistance activists and extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure, but did not stop Palestinian attacks after the troops withdrew.

DEPORTING BOMBERS' FAMILIES AND EXPELLING ARAFAT BEING SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED BY SECURITY CABINET

Deporting the families of West Bank bombers to the Gaza Strip, destroying their homes, and expelling Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Tanzim leaders are among the ideas expected to be discussed at Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting.

Regional Cooperation Minister Roni Milo is expected to suggest that the government declare an emergency situation to create the legal base for deportations and home demolitions.

At the security cabinet meeting, a number of ministers again raised the possibility of expelling Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, in the hope that a different Palestinian leadership would emerge in his place. The security services, however, have consistently argued that expelling Arafat would do more harm than good.

BAITUNYA FIRST PALESTINIAN AREA TO REVERT TO FULL ISRAELI CONTROL

An occupation army commander informed the mayor of the Ramallah-area town of Beitunya, until then part of Palestinian Authority area A, that the army now had full responsibility for security. Beitunya thus became the first Palestinian area to revert to full Israeli control.

ISRAELI OCCUPATION TROOPS ARREST SENIOR MEMBER OF FATAH

Among those reportedly arrested over the weekend was Muhammad Lufti, the acting secretary general of Fatah in the West Bank, who took over from Marwan Barghouti after he was arrested in April. Lufti is also the director-general of the Palestinian Interior Ministry. He was arrested in his house in Beitunya.

Fatah denounced the arrest and called for Abu Lutfi's "immediate release", warning Israel of harming him.

A Resistance activist from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was nabbed at a roadblock near Surda.

ISRAELI OCCUPATION ARMY CLOSES DOWN MUSLIM HUMANATARIAN ORGANIZATION

The occupation army decided on Saturday to close down the Um al-Fahm offices of a Muslim humanitarian aid organization, which, is affiliated with the Islamic Movement over its alleged connections with Hamas in the West Bank, Israel Radio reported.

Border Police and Shin Bet security service agents Saturday raided the offices of the organization in Nazareth, Um al-Fahm and Rahat, and confiscated equipment, documents and around NIS 1 million.

Sources in the occupation army told Israel Radio that authorization for the organization's operations hinged on its agreement to sever all ties with Hamas.

Occupation troops also carried out searches in the homes of organization employees, confiscating computers, diskettes and documents. Israel has ordered the closure of the organization on three occasions in the past.

EU LEADERS CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL MIDEAST CONFERENCE

European Union leaders gathered in Spain called on Saturday for the early convening of an international Middle East peace conference in a declaration that omitted any mention of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

The EU leaders said the goal should be an end to Israeli military occupation of Arab land and the early establishment of a democratic Palestinian state based on pre-1967 war borders, with minor adjustments if necessary.

"The crisis in the Middle East has reached a dramatic turning point," the leaders said after a two-day summit in the southern Spanish city of Seville, adding that the Israelis and Palestinians could not find a solution on their own.

"There is an urgent need for political action by the whole international community," the EU leaders said.

An EU diplomat cautioned against reading too much into the omission of Arafat's name, but said there had been a debate on whether to mention the Palestine Liberation Organization leader.

GERMAN DAILY SAYS EGYPT TRYING TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The German Daily Die Welt on Saturday published a report, according to which China is set to aid Egypt in obtaining nuclear weapons, Israel Radio reported. The report quoted Western intelligence officials.

According to the report, Egypt intends to mine natural uranium in the Sinai Peninsula and enrich it to weapons' grade material. The material would then be used on long-range missiles.

According to the paper's report, an agreement between Egypt and China was reached during Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's visit to China in January. Most of the details of the agreement have remained confidential, although security sources believe that the agreement between the two countries regards cooperation on matters of research, development and use of uranium sources.

The report said Egypt denied it had any nuclear agenda. According to the report, the International Atomic Energy Agency, situated in Vienna, confirmed that it has no information on nuclear developments in Egypt. However, the paper stressed that there have been increased hints that Cairo was stepping up its attempts to attain and enrich uranium.

PHOTO CAPTION

(TL) The body of Islamic Jihad militant Hatem Nusser, 27, is carried for burial along the streets of Gaza city Saturday, June 22, 2002. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa); (TR) Arrest raids took place in the West Bank, with so-called suspected activists being apprehended in Dura near Hebron and in Yabed village near the internationally illegal settlement of Patza'el in the Jordan Valley. (BBC); (BL) Israeli armored vehicles patrol in a street of the West Bank city of Nablus June 22, 2002. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini; (BR) An Israeli soldier searches the car of a Palestinian going into the village of Beitunia on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Ramallah, Saturday, June 22, 2002. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser).