Israeli Occupation Troops Leave Jenin as U.S Peace Envoy Begins a Tour of the Region

19/10/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Occupation Troops Dig Trench around Parts of Jenin to Prevent Would-be Bombers Slipping out in Cars||Occupation Army Arrests Un-named Resistance Leader in Jenin||Resistance Man Attacks Jewish Settlement in Northern Gaza, Gets Killed after Wounding 2 Israeli Occupation Soldiers||Washington Sends Mixed Signals on Easing Plight of Besieged Palestinians||U.S. Peace Envoy Arrives in the Region but Has no Plans to Meet Arafat|| STORY: Israeli occupation troops withdrew Friday from Jenin, a stronghold for Palestinian resistance, after digging a six-foot trench around part of the West Bank town to keep would-be bombers from slipping out in cars.
Since rolling into seven Palestinian cities and towns in June, Israeli occupation forces have now pulled back to the outskirts of Jenin and Bethlehem, but remain in the other five.

Occupation troops plan to withdraw within a few days from Palestinian-controlled parts of the West Bank city of Hebron, but the exact timetable will be left to the occupation army according to Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.

Jenin's governor, Khaider Irshaid, said the Israeli military informed him the curfew would no longer be enforced in Jenin. The occupation troops, who have regularly patrolled the streets in tanks and armored personnel carriers, have left, but remain on the outskirts. Occupation Soldiers still control all main roads and few Palestinians will be allowed to leave the city.

The occupation troops could return at any time, Irshaid said.

OCCUPATION ARMY ARRESTS UN-NAMED RESISTANCE LEADER IN JENIN

On Friday evening, the occupation army said it had arrested a wanted Palestinian who was stopped in a taxi in a village just west of Jenin but did not disclose his name. Another man riding with him escaped and authorities found two automatic rifles in the cab, the occupation army said.

Jenin, in the northern West Bank, was the launching pad for many of the resistance bombings against Israel and was the site of a fierce battle between Israeli occupation troops and Palestinian resistance men in April.

The military curfew has been eased recently in cities where occupation troops remain, and is often lifted during daylight hours to allow people to work, shop and go to school.

RESISTANCE MAN ATTACKS ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN NORTHERN GAZA, GETS KILLED AFTER WOUNDING TWO ISRAELI OCCUPATION SOLDIERS

In other developments Friday, a Palestinian resistance man who attacked Israeli occupation soldiers with grenades and an automatic rifle was killed by the occupation troops near the Jewish settlement of Dugit in the northern Gaza Strip, the occupation army said. Two occupation soldiers were lightly hurt.

The attack came after six Palestinians were killed Thursday in the Gaza town of Rafah during a clash between armed Palestinians and Israeli occupation soldiers near the border with Egypt.

Palestinians said all six were civilians, including two children and two women, killed when tank shells slammed into a crowded part of the Rafah refugee camp.

WASHINGTON SENDS MIXED SIGNALS ON EASING PLIGHT OF BESIEGED PALESTINIANS

The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, sent Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a strongly worded letter last weekend that called for giving the Palestinians greater freedom of movement.

However, President Bush, who hosted Sharon at the White House on Wednesday, made no reference to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian cities.

Sharon returned to Israel early Friday, while U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns was on a regional tour to look for ways to end the two years of fighting.

U.S. PEACE ENVOY HAS NO PLANS TO MEET ARAFAT

Burns will be in Israel next week, but has no plans to meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, U.S. officials said. The U.S. and Israeli governments say Arafat's Palestinian Authority has failed to stop terror attacks against Israel.

Burns met Thursday in Paris with Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath.

In Washington, a U.S. official said Burns discussed with Shaath a "roadmap" designed to move toward an overall settlement, including a Palestinian state in 2005.

The roadmap, now the centerpiece of U.S. policy in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, also has the approval of the United Nations, Russia and the European Union.

It proposes reaching a settlement in three phases, with an international peace conference launching the second phase in 2003. Palestinian statehood would be at the end of the process.

Sharon told Israel's Army Radio that he hadn't yet read the U.S. proposal and would discuss it with Burns next week.


PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinians wave green Islamic, yellow Fatah, red PFLP and Palestinian flags during the funeral of six Palestinians who where killed by an Israeli tank fire in Rafah refugee camp southern Gaza Strip, Friday Oct. 18, 2002. Six Palestinians were killed on Thursday when Israeli tanks fired artillery shells and machine guns on their houses, Palestinian official said.(AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Spiritua