Israeli Detentions, Assassinations Killing Roadmap

Israeli Detentions, Assassinations Killing ‘Roadmap’

IOF Detain 160 Palestinians in Hebron, Nablus

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) detained 160 Palestinians in Hebron, Nablus and Ramallah overnight as the Israeli government rejected talks held between the Palestine National Authority (PNA) and the Palestinian factions aimed at reaching a declaration of “Hudna” or temporary cease fire, to help push forward the implementation of the “roadmap”.

Palestinian sources on Monday said that the Palestinian group, Hamas, is close to agreeing to the temporary ceasefire.

The leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad will travel to Egypt today to respond to efforts to broker an end to attacks on Israelis.

Egyptian mediators are also involved in talks and if Hamas agrees to a truce an announcement is expected in Cairo by Thursday, sources close to the talks said.

However, it seems that the results of the talks won’t change anything for the Israelis who seem determined to go on with their with military aggression against the Palestinians.

“It’s unacceptable for the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the United States to agree to a situation in which a certain Hamas leader decides when progress [on the roadmap] will be made,” said General Amos Gilad, the Israeli occupation army officer leading security talks with the PNA.

Meanwhile, the IOF detained more than 160 Palestinians in the West Bank cities of Hebron and Nablus, Israeli military sources said.

IOF troops raided the city of Hebron on dawn, carrying out a wide scale detention campaign, residents said.

Over 130 citizens were detained in the raid, Israeli sources confirmed.

In Nablus, IOF raided al-Qasaba, the city’s historical section, and detained at least 30 Palestinians, Palestinian security sources said.

Earlier, IOF detained at least 80 Palestinians, all students of Birzeit University, after raiding their houses in Ramallah city, the Palestinian ministry of education said.

IOF also demolished a house near the northern West Bank town of Jenin, witnesses said.

Israeli occupation troops raided Deir Abu Deif village and demolished a house owned by citizen Khalil Mohammed after forcing the family’s ten members out at gunpoint, witnesses added.

The Israeli raids came in a bloody week, which witnessed the assassination of five Palestinian activists, including the top Hamas West Bank official Abdullah al-Qawasmi.

Al-Qawasmi was extra-Judicially executed while standing at the entrance to a mosque in Hebron city on Saturday.

He was shot dead by an IOF under cover unit, whose members were disguised as locals, witnesses said.

Later on Monday, IOF assassinated four Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.

Palestine security sources and witnesses said that an Israeli tank opened fire at a house in the re-occupied town of Beit Hanoun, killing four Palestinians and wounding three others.

The four victims were identified as Faker al-Za’aneen, 20, Mohammad al-Basiouni, 23, Khaled al-Shinbari, 21, and Rushdi al-Za’aneen. They were members of the Fatah faction.

The Israeli assassinations and raid occurred as drafters of the peace “roadmap” met on Sunday in Jordan to discuss ways to salvage peace efforts imperiled by two weeks of violence.

The Israeli escalation also followed a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who said that his government would continue extra-judicial assassinations against Palestinian activists.

Sharon also told his Cabinet that settlement construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip should proceed quietly, a senior Israeli cabinet said Sunday.

Israel TV’s Channel 1 said Sharon told the ministers that settlement building “isn’t part of the roadmap, it’s my personal commitment.”

Sharon had previously announced in the Jordanian city port of Aqaba that Israel has agreed to dismantle settlements built without government authorization as part of its obligations under the “roadmap” peace plan.

All Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, both authorized and unauthorized by Israeli governments, are considered illegitimate and illegal by the international community.

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