Fighting in Gaza, Palestinian Lawmakers to Meet

09/09/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Fighting Erupts in the Central Gaza Town of Deir al-Balah and the Nearby al-Bureij and Nusairat Refugee camps||12 Parliamentarians Barred From Attending Session to Participate Thro' Video Link||Lawmakers to Vote on Arafat's Reshuffle|| STORY: Israeli occupation forces raided the Palestinian-ruled central Gaza Strip on Monday, sparking gun battles with armed Palestinians as the Palestinian parliament prepared for a rare meeting in the West Bank.

Fighting erupted after Israeli occupation troops and armor swept along a Palestinian-ruled road near the entrances to the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah and the nearby al-Bureij and Nusairat refugee camps.

Three Palestinians were reportedly wounded in the firefights which erupted after Palestinian Resistance men were awoken by loudspeakers and told to confront the Israeli forces.

The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), meanwhile, was set to hold on Monday a rare meeting with most of the 86 members in attendance for the first time since a Palestinian uprising began in September 2000 after peace negotiations deadlocked.

But 12 parliamentarians based in the Gaza Strip were barred from attending the PLC meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah because Israel said they were "involved in terror," Palestinian officials said.

The lawmakers banned from attending Monday's session would take part in the meeting via a video link from the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

"We will not surrender to the Israeli dictates. The PLC will go ahead with the session the way we see fit," Nabil Amr, a parliamentarian and former cabinet minister, told Reuters.

LAWMAKERS TO VOTE ON ARAFAT RESHUFFLE

The lawmakers were expected to vote on Yasser Arafat's June cabinet reshuffle at the parliament building after hearing a speech by the Palestinian president on "national, political and security matters" at his Ramallah headquarters.

Ramallah has been under Israeli military occupation and regular curfews since June after a spate of Palestinian Resistance bombings that killed scores of Israeli civilians.

Israeli officials were not available for comment but Israel said earlier in the week that politicians "involved in terror" would not be permitted to attend Monday's PLC session.

Over the past two years, Palestinian lawmakers prevented from attending parliament sessions by Israeli military roadblocks and restrictions have participated from their home towns in the West Bank and Gaza through television link-ups.

One of the 12 lawmakers on the Israeli blacklist is Abdel-Aziz Shaheena, the newly-appointed minister of supplies, and at least four others are connected to Islamic organizations.

A group of lawmakers in Gaza decided in a Sunday night meeting that parliamentarians allowed to travel to Ramallah could choose between attending the session in person or staying in Gaza in a show of support for those banned from attending.

"This is an illegal step from the Israeli government," said Dr. Kamal Al-Shurafi, a parliamentarian linked to Arafat's Fatah group who was blacklisted by Israel.

"The Israelis say we have a link to terror but we don't agree this is terror. This is our responsibility toward our people and we will continue to defend our people's rights."

Israel Radio quoted officials at the army's civil administration office as saying they were doing their utmost to facilitate the attendance of most parliamentarians but that those linked to "terror" would be barred.

Monday's mornings military operation in central Gaza followed several days of activity by Israel's army in the area.

On Saturday, Israeli forces thrust into Deir al-Balah, arresting a top Islamic militant and destroying four workshops the army said were used to produce mortars and Qassam rockets for use against Jewish settlements.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israeli soldiers stop a Palestinian man at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron during a curfew imposed by the Israeli army, September 8, 2002. The Israeli army reoccupied West Bank cities and imposed curfews in June after a spate of Palestinian suicide bombings in an almost two-year-old uprising for independence. (Loay Abu Haykel/Reuter