The Jewish neighborhood of Gilo in occupied Jerusalem came under Palestinian gunfire from Beit Jala on Tuesday morning, Israel Radio reported. No injuries were reported.
The firing followed a new Israeli incursion by occupation tanks and troops into a Palestinian-ruled village near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Palestinian sources said that the gunfire was in retaliation for this incursion.
The occupation army said it arrested a senior Islamic Jihad activist and two other Palestinians suspected of "involvement in terror activities." The troops left three hours later.
According to Haaretz, five tanks and several dozen troops entered the village of Irtas before dawn, encountering fire from local Palestinian gunmen, Palestinian security sources said.
Four gunmen were wounded in the ensuing exchange of fire, they said.
U.S.
Meanwhile, US president George W Bush called key US ally Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on Monday and discussed palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the current situation in the Middle East, the White House said. Spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters the two leaders spoke for 15 minutes and talked about the Bush administration's sharp criticism of Arafat.
"President Bush made clear his disappointment with Chairman Arafat, including chairman Arafat’s failure to crack down on terrorism," he said. The two men "emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the region.
"They both reaffirmed their commitment to work toward this end and they also agreed to continue close consultations between th! e United States and Egypt."
During a tour of a coast guard vessel in Maine last Friday, the president said "I am disappointed in Yasser Arafat. He must make a full effort to root out terror in the Middle East." Bush had reacted badly to the seizure by Israelis in the Red Sea of a shipment of weapons and explosives that the Palestinian captain of the ship told the Israelis was bound for the Palestinian Authority. On Sunday, vice president Dick Cheney said in a television interview that Arafat had acquired the weapons "from Iran" and had been dealing with the Iranian-linked Hizbollah organization.
the White House dismissed as inadequate a statement by the Palestinian Cabinet that finance official Fuad Shobaki, who was implicated in Karine A plot to smuggle 50 tons of weapons from Iran to the Palestinians, had been moved from house arrest to a prison in Arafat's West Bank compound. Fleischer said the step was not enough. "There have been arrests made before, where just as soon as people were arrested, they were let out through the back door of the jail cell," he said.
Fleischer said, "the burden remains on Chairman Arafat to make continued concrete steps so there can be no question that Chairman Arafat is dedicated to eliminating terrorism in the region and the president has not yet seen such steps."
The U.S. refused to accept what it called an ambiguous speech by Arafat as a clear call for curbing terror. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the speech Saturday appeared to leave open the possibility of escalating violence against Israel. "We don't think that kind of talk is helpful," Boucher said.
EU
While the United States kept the pressure on Arafat on Monday, European Union foreign ministers affirmed support for Arafat and criticized Israel for damaging EU-funded projects in the PA.
The move to reconfirm backing for the Palestinian leader came amid fears in Europe that U.S. President George W. Bush plans to cut off relations with Arafat and stop mediating in the conflict due to growing frustration that he is not doing enough to curb violence and dismantle terror organizations.
In a draft statement of the Brussels talks, the ministers urged Israel to recognize the PA as a necessary partner in the quest for Middle East peace. The statement also said that Arafat must do more to dismantle terrorist networks.
"Israel needs the Palestinian Authority and its elected president, Yasser Arafat, as a partner to negotiate with both in order to eradicate terrorism and to work towards peace. Their capacity to fight terrorism must not be weakened," said the council's statement.
"The PA... must do everything to put an end to terrorism and the armed intifada, dismantle all terrorist networks and arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of terrorist acts," according to the draft statement. The ministers also repeated their call to Israel to pull military forces out of Palestinian areas, halt extra-judicial killings and lift the economic blockade on the Palestinians.
"I think it is very dangerous if the U.S. is supportive of the Israeli government and of the confrontation Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has tried to use in the latest weeks instead of supporting peace talks," said Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. "The only way to go forward is to continue the peace talks, and if we deny Arafat and deny the PA, we just increase the tensions in the region... that can only lead to the development of a full-scale war in the Middle East," Lindh said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
