A booby-trapped car exploded in the industrial zone of Netanya, north Israel on Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, US officials cancelled a meeting with Palestinians in protest of a decision by West Bank preventive security, Jibril Rjoub, not to attend a Palestinian-Israeli security meeting that held was Tuesday in Ramallah.
EXPLOSION IN NETANYA
Israel’s Army Radio reported that a booby-trapped car exploded in the old industrial zone of Netanya, leaving six people in a shock state that needed medical treatment.
The report said that the bomb planted in a Mazda 323 was activated with a remote control.
This is the second attack on Netanya in less than two weeks. On May 18, a Hamas suicide bomber blew himself at the entrance of a mall, killing six people and wounding 100.
US OFFICIALS CANCEL MEETING WITH PALESTINIANS TO PROTEST RJOUB’S REFUSAL TO ATTEND SECURITY MEETING
Senior US diplomats called off a meeting with Palestinian negotiators Wednesday, in protest of a decision by West
Ban preventive security chief, Jibril Rjoub not to attend a security coordination meeting held Tuesday in Ramallah that ended in no progress made.
A Palestinian official told Reuters that US envoy to Tel Aviv and Councilor General Ron Schlitcher were angry at Rjoub’s absence, and decided to call off the meeting with the PA officials to discuss Mitchell Report.
Palestinian official said that President Yasser Arafat asked Rjoub to attend the meeting, but he refused in protest of an Israeli tank attack that targeted his residence in Ramallah two weeks ago.
Diplomatic sources were quoted as saying that US peace envoy William Burns left home “resentful,” at the security chief’s absence, “because Arafat had pledged that Rjoub would attend the meeting.”
ISLAMIC JIHAD CLAIMS RESPONSIBLIITY FOR MORTAR ATTACK ON GAZA JEWISH SETTLEMENT
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement has claimed responsibility for a mortar attack on Wednesday against a Jewish settlement to the south of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, saying it was carried out by its military wing: Jerusalem Brigades. "At 6 p.m. this morning, our fighting groups shelled the Slav settlement...with mortars. The enemy acknowledged the attack, the first on the settlement," said a statement faxed to Albawaba.com.
Haaretz had reported that Palestinian gunners fired two mortar shells Wednesday that landed in Palestinian-controlled territory near the southern Gaza Strip settlement of "Rafiah Yam."
Palestinian also opened fire at an Israeli army post in the Martyrs Junction, or Netzarim overnight, said the paper.
SWEDEN URGES END TO MIDEAST UNREST, PLEDGES EU ROLE
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson called on Wednesday for an end to Israeli-Palestinian violence and pledged a "constructive" European role in rebuilding peace, said Reuters.
"The main message to all sides is to stop all violence," Persson, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, told a news conference after an hour of talks with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
"The European Union is prepared to play a constructive role in the region, but the first and necessary thing is to stop the violence," he added.
Persson said Arafat had briefed him on the latest situation in the Middle East and assured him he would do his utmost to stop the violence in the occupied territories.
"We undoubtedly share this view. We have lost 700 dead and 28,000 (Palestinians) have been injured," Arafat said, quoted by the agency.
"We have no tanks, rockets, we are under occupation but we insist in spite of this that we are committed to the peace process in the terra sancta (Holy Land) for the future of our children, not only for us and the Israelis but for the whole Middle East," he said.
"It is very important for international peace in the world."
In Jerusalem, Israeli officials said that in talks on Tuesday, Palestinian negotiators gave no commitment to ending their eight-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
But Arafat said the pressing need for peace was behind the Palestinians` acceptance of an international report on the violence and a recent Egyptian-Jordanian peace initiative.
"We are in need of quick observance from the EU, United Nations, anywhere to stop the violence and protect the peace process," Arafat said.
Neither Persson nor Arafat mentioned media reports that the Palestinians were demanding EU trade sanctions against Israeli produce coming from the West Bank and Gaza and the setting up of a UN peace force in Israel and Palestinian areas, said the agency.
Persson is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Brussels on June 6.
Efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict will be high on the agenda of an EU summit in Gothenburg on June 14-16 with Sweden as hosts.
Persson was in Copenhagen to brief the Danish government on the summit.
Arafat, who arrived on Tuesday night from Moscow, was to hold talks later with Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft before flying on to Brussels in the late afternoon.
His tour aims at winning broader international backing after US envoy William Burns launched a new peace initiative – Albawaba.com
