Israel Maintains Tight Restrictions

18/07/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Intifadha Clashes Rage on Unabated with Occupation Troops Killing a Resistance Leader in Salit Dahir & Arresting Several Others in the West Bank||PA Denounces Tel Aviv Bombing||Hamas Accuses PA of Trying to Shut Down its Internet Site||International Mediators Say Israel's Withdrawal from Palestinian Cities & Towns Key to Palestinian Reform|| STORY: A double Resistance bombing, the second deadly Palestinian attack in as many days, prompted a freeze Thursday on any so-called further easing of the tight restrictions the Israeli occupation army has placed on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Senior Israeli political leaders postponed talks with the Palestinians after Tuesday's attack, and the discussions remain on hold following the bombing attack in a rundown part of Tel Aviv where many foreign workers live.

If and when the talks resume, they are expected to focus on the curfews and closures that the Israeli army has imposed on Palestinians in seven West Bank towns for the past month. However, the latest attacks may make Israel less willing to remove restrictions.

INTIFADHA CLASHES RAGE ON UNABATED

Meanwhile, two Palestinians were killed in an exchange of fire during an Israeli occupation army operation in the West Bank village of Salit Dahir, both sides said. One of the dead was a leader of a Resistance leadership in the area and the other was a relative of his, the Palestinians said.

The Israeli army also said it arrested eight Palestinians overnight in the West Bank, all of whom were suspected of involvement in violence against Israel.

In a statement, the Palestinian Authority denounced the bombing attack but charged that Israel was responsible for creating "the suitable atmosphere for such operations which we condemn and reject."

HAMAS ACCUSES PA OF TRYING TO SHUT DOWN ITS INTERNET SITE

The Hamas Resistance group has meanwhile accused the Palestinian Authority on Thursday of putting pressure on their Internet supplier in an attempt to shut down the organizations Internet site.

Occupation army Radio reported representatives of Hamas said that despite the fact that their site was shut down for a number of hours Wednesday, they had found an alternative way to keep their site online

INTERNATIONAL MEDIATORS SAY ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL KEY TO PALESTINIAN REFORM

Russia and other international mediators in the Middle East conflict believe Israel must withdraw from Palestinian territories before reform of the Palestinian Authority can begin, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday. 

Alexander Yakovenko also told the Interfax news agency that Moscow supports the Palestinians' right to set up their own state along 1967 borders with the possibility of future territorial exchanges with Israel. He said the two sides could agree on temporary borders with the understanding that a final agreement would be reached later.

He said officials from Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations _ the so-called Quartet, drafted a program to promote reform of the Palestinian Authority and discussed what steps Israel must take at a meeting Tuesday in New York.

The Quartet next meets in August, he said.

PHOTO CAPTION

The bodies of eight year-old Ahmed Abu Radaha and 18-year old Fadi Al Ejel lie in a mosque as friends and relatives gather around them during their funeral at Al Amari refugee camp in the West Bank city of Ramallah July 18, 2002.. REUTERS/Osama Silwadi