Abbas deplores Beit Lahia massacre, Qrei asks international support
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 1/5/2005

Chairman of the PLO executive committee Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the "massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces" in Beit Lahia town to the north of Gaza. The artillery bombardment of the occupation tanks against the area resulted on Tuesday morning in killing seven Palestinians and wounding other seven.

The candidate for the Palestine National Liberation front ( Fatah ) Mahmoud Abbas for the presidential elections due to be next week described Israel in an unprecedented tone as "the Zionist enemy." He said before a crowd of voters in Khan Younis -- which had seen off in the few past days more than 11 -- "let's bless the souls of our martyrs who fell today by the shelling of the Zionist enemy in Beit Lahia." Neither the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat nor the Palestinian leadership had used such a tone against Israel in open since years. These are statements which are often used by the Palestinian resistance groups.

Abbas's statements were recently contradictory between announcing his protection of the resistance to criticizing its performance and his call to end the militarization of the Intifada, and lastly his refusal to apologize for describing the shelling fired by resistance against the settlements improper. This was after seven Palestinian groups described in a statement his statement as a stab in its back.

For his part, the Palestinian prime minister Ahmad Qurei launched a strong attack against Israel following the recent massacre in northern Gaza, calling on all the world "to control its aggressive policy" in order to be able to make the elections.

Qurei said that the operations of invasion, killing and daily detention of scores of Palestinian cadres in the West Bank and Gaza put question marks on the Israeli intention towards the elections. He called on the international team which came to monitor the elections to monitor the Israeli acts closely.

Previous Stories:
  Abbas: I want to protect the Palestinian resistance from Israel   (1/3/2005)
  Israel releases 160 Palestinian prisoners   (12/28/2004)
  Israel releases Mustafa al-Barghouthi   (12/28/2004)

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