Out of the abyss? ‘Gaza First’ plan raises new hopes
Friday, August 9, 2002 | byNAOMI SEGALJewish Telegraphic Agency
On Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority Cabinet gave preliminary approval to the plan, pending further talks between the two sides.
Under the proposal, Israeli soldiers would withdraw from parts of the Gaza Strip and from the West Bank city of Bethlehem in exchange for Palestinian guarantees that no attacks would be launched from these areas.
Further withdrawals would take place if peace holds in the first areas.
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer presented the "Gaza First" plan during a meeting with Palestinian officials earlier in the week.
The latest developments came as a delegation of Palestinian officials left the region Wednesday for talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington.
They also came amid a week of continued Palestinian terror.
That left Israeli officials caught between two seemingly contradictory considerations.
On the one hand, they want to prevent future attacks. At the same time, they want to avoid harming—or being accused of harming—the Palestinian population at large.
With attacks being launched on a near-daily basis, the first consideration appeared to be gaining the upper hand.
On Wednesday, as part of continued military efforts to crack down on terrorism, Israeli forces killed at least six Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Soldiers killed four Palestinian gunmen during a clash in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Palestinian residents said one of those killed was a local militia leader.
In Gaza, an Israeli sniper killed Hussam Hamdan, 27, a senior Hamas member. Earlier Wednesday, a Palestinian policeman was killed when Israeli troops and tanks briefly entered northern Gaza in a search for terrorists.
Earlier in the week, Israel announced a ban on Palestinian travel in much of the West Bank.
Monday's move came in response to an onslaught of Palestinian terror a day earlier that killed 13 people.
Under the ban, Palestinians can not drive in the northern half of the West Bank, between the cities of Nablus, Jenin, Kalkilya, Tulkarm and Ramallah, the army said. Some movement will be permitted in the southern West Bank, including the cities of Hebron, Bethlehem and Jericho.
Israel also sealed off a large portion of the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. Israeli tanks cut off the southern town of Rafah, often a flashpoint of violence, and an adjacent refugee camp from the rest of Gaza.
Ben-Eliezer said restrictions would be tightened further and the army was planning operations to "maintain a much bigger closure than what we are doing now."
The announcement appeared to be an about-face from the decision a day earlier to continue easing restrictions on Palestinian civilians.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Ben-Eliezer made the decision to ease the restrictions Sunday, even after the Cabinet learned of Sunday's bus bombing in northern Israel.
The attack, claimed by Hamas, killed nine Israelis and wounded more than 40, several critically. Many of the passengers were soldiers traveling to their bases.
The measures to help the Palestinian population include permitting up to 12,000 Palestinians to work in Israel, lowering the age of Palestinians allowed to enter Israel, increasing the number of Palestinian merchants allowed to trade in Israel, and easing travel restrictions on Palestinian medical and aide teams operating in Palestinian-controlled areas.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office were quoted as saying the measures were intended to stave off international condemnation of Israel in a report issued this week on the plight of the Palestinian population.
On Sunday, each hourly newscast seemed to bring tidings of another attack.
Six civilians killed on the Haifa-Safed bus were identified Sunday night: Mordechai Friedman, 21, of Jerusalem; Sari Goldstein, 21, of Carmiel; Marlan Menachem, 20, of Moshav Safsofa; Maysoun Amin Hassan, 23, from Sajour; and Adlina Kononen, 37, and Rebecca Roga, 40, both citizens of the Philippines.
Three soldiers were also named: Sgt. Maj. Roni Ghanem, from the Druse village of Marar; Sgt. Omri Goldin, 20, from Mitzpe Aviv; and Sgt. Yifat Gavrieli, 19, of Mitzpe Adi.
The force of the blast blew out the bus' windows and ripped off its top.
The driver of the bus, who survived a suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem six years ago, was lightly hurt.
Hamas said the bombing was a suicide attack, calling it the latest act of retaliation for Israel's July 23 assassination of the leader of Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
In another incident Sunday, a Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli security guard in a shooting attack outside Jerusalem's Old City.
The attack occurred shortly before noon, when a gunman opened fire on a truck belonging to Israel's main telephone company, Bezek. The security guard—Yekutiel Amitai, 32, from Jerusalem—was killed and the driver was injured, police said.
A group of Israeli border police officers stationed at the Damascus Gate returned fire, killing the 19-year-old Palestinian gunman.
A Palestinian bystander—Nizal Awassat, 51, from eastern Jerusalem—also was killed in the shootout.
Later Sunday, three Israelis were wounded in a Palestinian ambush on their bus in the northern West Bank. Following the attack, there were exchanges of fire between Israeli troops who arrived at the scene and Palestinian gunmen.
In another attack on Sunday, four Israelis were wounded by a roadside bombing near Ramallah.
Late Sunday night, Palestinian terrorists struck yet again, killing an Israeli husband and wife and wounding their toddler son.
Avi Volanski, 29, and his pregnant wife, Avital, 27, were killed when gunmen opened fire on their car as they were traveling on a West Bank road to their home in the settlement of Eli.
The couple's 3-year-old son was moderately wounded. Their 8-month-old son, who was also in the car, was unharmed.
In yet another incident Sunday, Israeli soldiers killed an armed Palestinian who tried to infiltrate a Gaza settlement from the sea.
Security forces spotted the Palestinian, who was wearing a diving suit and walking along the shore near the settlement of Dugit, in northern Gaza.
He was armed with a rifle, ammunition and several grenades, Army Radio reported.
There was another attempted terror attack Monday.
In that incident, one person was killed and another injured when their car exploded near the Israeli Arab city of Umm el-Fahm.
The passenger was wearing an explosive belt that exploded prematurely, police said. The driver, who was seriously wounded, had stopped to give the bomber a ride, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.
In a new policy aimed at deterring Palestinian terror attacks, Israeli soldiers on Sunday demolished the homes of nine Palestinian terrorists. The soldiers blew up four homes in the Jenin area, three in Nablus and two in Hebron.
The policy of demolishing the homes of terrorists' families has deterred several would-be suicide bombers, Israeli intelligence officials say.