Wolfensohn says Israel acts as if withdrawal from Gaza did not take place

James Wolfensohn, the Middle East Quartet's special envoy to Palestine, has accused Israel of behaving and acting as an occupying power of the Gaza Strip despite its recent withdrawal from erstwhile occupied territory, IRNA reported.

IRNA said that in a letter sent last week to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Quartet foreign ministers, Wolfensohn wrote that "Israel is loath to relinquish control, almost acting as though there has been no withdrawal." Wolfenshon said he was deeply disappointed that none of the key movement issues had been resolved.

In his letter, the Quartet's envoy pointed out that Israel was preventing the implementation of a proposal by him to introduce a temporary system for allowing people and goods to move between Gaza and the West Bank.

Meantime, the Palestinian Media Center reported today that " An undercover unit of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) backed by 15 military vehicles stormed into and imposed curfew on the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem and two adjacent refugee camps on Sunday and extra-judicially executed two Palestinians, identified as Loai Assadi and Majed Samir al-Ashqar."