Israel demolishes a home in Nablus; demonstrations in Tel Aviv; Egypt continued mediation
One Palestinian official said that Egypt will continue its efforts to ease down conditions, and to remove tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
The Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath said that the chairman of the Egyptian intelligence Omar Suleiman will be heading for the Palestinian territories following the Christmas celebrations so as to continue the Egyptian efforts to this effect.
Shaath made this statement in Cairo after the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmad Maher, received the delegation of the Palestinian Authority led by the chairman of the PLO political department Farouk Kaddoumi, who apologized to Maher over the attack he was exposed to during his visit to al-Aqsa mosque several days ago.
In a new Israeli military escalation, the Israeli occupation forces demolished one house in Balata camp in Nablus, the West Bank. Palestinian sources said that the house belongs to the family of Hashem Abu Hamdan, commander of al-Aqsa martyrs group of the Palestinian national liberation Movement ( Fatah ).
One young Palestinian was killed in Nablus on Saturday, and other 17 wounded, when the Israeli soldiers opened fire at teenagers throwing stones at them.
Backed, by tank, the Israeli occupation forces broke into Balata camp for the Palestinian refugees last week, and carried out intensive inspection operations in houses and detained at least 70 Palestinians.
A spokesman for Sharon said that the intensive Israeli military operations in Nablus came as a reaction to intelligence information on a nearby attack. The spokesman stressed that Israel will not permit Nablus to be the base for operations against it.
In Tel Aviv, some 250 persons of Israeli peace advocated demonstrated in front of the ministry of defense on Saturday evening, and the demonstrators closed a main street in Tel Aviv, before they were dispersed by the police who detained 6 of them.
The demonstration came in protest of building the separation wall in the depth of the Palestinian territories, and the Israeli forces opening fire at an Israeli protester who took part in a demonstration near Qalqilya city, in the West Bank.
