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Israeli Policy Nips Truce in the Bud: Palestinians
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“Resistance factions cannot sit on the fence and see Israeli occupation troops continuing their aggressions,” said Yusuf.
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Additional
Reporting by Atef Daghlas, IOL Correspondent
GAZA
CITY, January 26 (IslamOnline.net ) – Major Palestinian resistance
factions said Wednesday, January 26, that the never-ending
“oppressive” practices by Israeli occupation troops will nip in
the bud a potential ceasefire sought tirelessly by President Mahmmoud
Abbas.
“The
incessant arrests of Hamas cadres in deadly raids into the West Bank
cities, particularly Jenin and Nablus, torpedo earnest truce
efforts,” Hamas spokesman, sheikh Hassan Yusuf, said in a press
release sent to IslamOnline.net.
Yusuf
said Palestinian resistance factions cannot “sit on the fence” and
see Israeli occupation troops continuing their aggression on the
Palestinian people.
Earlier
Wednesday, a three-year-old Palestinian girl was killed by gunfire
from Israeli occupation troops in the Deir El-Balah region of the Gaza
Strip, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Rahma
Abu Chmas, was killed by her house in the center of the territory, in
a jarring reminder of last year’s cold-blood killing of Palestinian
girls Iman Al-Hamas, Ghadir Mukheimar and Rana.
Within
the same context, a Palestinian security delegation walked out
Wednesday of a meeting with Israeli counterparts to coordinate the
deployment of Palestinian forces from the center of the Gaza Strip to
the border with Egypt after scores of Israeli settlers damaged their
cars, Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported.
On
Tuesday, more than 40 Israeli military vehicles stormed into and
imposed curfew on the Palestinian village of Saida, near Tulkarem in
the northern West Bank, detaining some 50 Palestinians.
The
Israeli attorney-general furthermore has approved the construction of
a 4-km (2.5 mile) segment of the West Bank separation
wall along a new route
near the large Jewish settlement of Ariel.
“Indifferent”
As
hundreds of demonstrators protested against building work on the
section near the settlement of Ariel, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed
Qorei said Tuesday Israel had sent a clear message with such a
provocative move at a time when Abbas is trying to put an end to armed
resistance.
“We
are making 100 percent efforts to bring about a ceasefire but Israel
is sending us an ugly message by working on the wall,” Qorei told
reporters before entering talks with Abbas, reported AFP.
“This
is going to lead to the confiscation of large amount of land. The
world should be aware of what Israel is doing," he added.
Qorei
said the Palestinians would make US envoy William Burns “aware of
the situation on the ground” when he holds talks with the new
Palestinian leadership on a visit to the West Bank later this week.
Hamas
leader in the West Bank Mohammad Ghazal said Israel is
“indifferent” to any truce.
“Israel
violated the previous truce and is set to violate any future ceasefire
because Israel cannot commit itself to stopping the killing of
Palestinians and home destruction,” he told IOL.
A
unilateral truce declared by Palestinian resistance factions on June
29, 2003, collapsed after Israeli forces assassinated
Ismail Abu Shanab, a Hamas political leader.
Islamic
Jihad leader in the West Bank Zakariya Al-Zubeidi vowed, in statements
to IOL, to swiftly retaliate any Israeli attack.
Israeli
Premier Ariel Sharon’s senior adviser Zalman Shoval told Reuters
Sunday, January 23, that Israel was only seeking an “interim peace
accord” with Abbas.
“There
will be no final accord in our generation, in my opinion,” said the
Israeli official.
Internecine
Conflict
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A file photo of seven-year-old Rana who was killed by Israeli troops in December.
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Commenting
on the continuous Israeli crackdown on the Palestinians, Iyad
Al-Barghouthi, professor of political sciences in An-Najah University
in Nablus, said that Israel wants to trigger an “internecine
conflict.”
“Israel
wants to provoke Hamas into rebuffing the truce by arresting its
cadres, which could spark a conflict between the Palestinian Authority
and the leading resistance movement,” he told IOL.
Barghouthi
further said the Israeli detentions of Palestinians and destruction of
homes are aimed at “embarrassing” Abbas during his relentless
efforts to convince the resistance factions to agree to a truce.
Following
a series of marathon talks with leaders of major resistance factions
in Gaza, Mazen told the Palestinian television that an agreement
concerning a ceasefire was “very soon.”
Hamas
said Monday, January 24, that it had narrowed differences with Abbas
on his call for a ceasefire but reiterated that it would not call a
truce without a reciprocal move by Israel.
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