Confrontations continue between the Israeli army and the Palestinians
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 4/4/2001

The Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has announced his rejection to any initiative to halt the Israeli escalation and lift the siege imposed on the Palestinian areas. He said: " Any initiative will be put on the shelve."

Observers say that the telephone call US Secretary of state made with Sharon falls in the course of an Egyptian- Jordanian initiative proposed by the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and that Israeli has immediately refused this initiative.

The minister at Sharon's divan Dany Nafeh said that Israel refuses the thoughts stated in the Egyptian- Jordanian initiative in form and content because it is " an attempt to force Israel to accept the 'Taba understanding' (which) Israel had also refused in the past."

Meantime, the Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres refused a European proposal to mediate in the conflict. He said that " Washington is Israel's best partner." Peres, who is currently in Stockholm, justified his rejection of the European initiative by saying:" the US forms a state while Europe is still a group of countries and its work is quite different from the way the Americans perform."

Meantime, the Israeli forces demolished 4 Palestinian buildings near al-Ezareyah to the east of the city of Jerusalem and the Israeli forces broke into the downtown of Gaza and the Israeli bulldozers, at the protection of the Israeli tanks, uprooted thousands of trees and bulldozed plants surrounding al-Breij camp for the Palestinian refugees which is part of the self- rule area.

The Israeli army also destroyed a position for the Palestinian Authority "force 17" in Khan Younis, to the South of Gaza.

Gen. Naghoum Seibon said that his forces are ready to control Hebron.

He said: " The Palestinians have to pay the price of being close to the settlers." To this effect the AFP said that hundreds of Israeli military men tour Hebron day and night, while the Palestinians undergo tough curfew measures. The agency added that the settlers also occupied the Palestinian trade centers in the city and that other shops were completely destroyed, SANA reported.

However, an Israeli military spokesman admitted on Tuesday that one Israeli soldier was killed in Bethlehem. He is sergeant Dany Deiri.

Previous Stories:
  One Israeli soldier killed in confrontation with the Palestinians   (4/3/2001)
  One Palestinian killed, several wounded in confrontation with Israeli forces   (4/2/2001)
  Six palestinians killed, 226 wounded   (3/31/2001)

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