Palestinian leaders demanded Wednesday that US envoys heading to the Mideast next week immediately force Israel to respect a truce, while Israel began fortifying an illegal Jewish outpost in Hebron and occupation troops razed several Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip, said reports.
In May, CIA Director George Tenet hammered out a truce accord that called on Palestinians to stop fighting, arrest militants and confiscate illegal weapons, while Israel was to lift roadblocks and travel restrictions and pull its forces back to positions held before the latest Palestinian uprising against the occupation began, said AP.
However, Israel is demanding seven days with no violence before implementing the accord, according to the agency, which quoted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as saying: "We will insist on complete calm, with no threats and no attacks against Israeli citizens, before negotiations."
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the United States must veto the Israeli demand and enforce the Tenet plan and an earlier program for restarting peace talks, said AP.
``I challenge Mr. Sharon to find any part in this record that calls for a seven day period of quiet,'' Erekat told the agency.
US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said that they do not accept the weeklong hiatus but have not pressed Israel publicly on the issue, added the agency.
Israel, backed by the US, has repeatedly blocked Palestinian efforts to invite international monitors into the region to oversee a truce.
US Secretary of State Powell said President Bush had asked Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns to return to the Middle East later this week for consultations, said Reuters.
Retired Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni, former commander of US forces in the Middle East, will also go to the region and stay ``as long as it takes'' to push the sides toward a ceasefire and onto the road to resuming peace talks, Powell said, cited by the agency.
Powell set out US Middle East policy in a speech on Monday at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, saying two mediators would be sent to the region and repeating calls for a two-state solution and an end to "violence," said Reuters.
The speech marked the first time President Bush's administration had outlined ideas for ending the conflict, a move coinciding with US efforts to boost Arab backing for the anti-terror war in Afghanistan, added the agency.
ISRAEL BUILDING UP ILLEGAL SETTLEMENT
As the US prepared to increase its involvement in the Middle East, Israel began fortifying one of its many illegal settlements scattered throughout Palestinian land occupied since 1967, said a report by the UK-based Guardian newspaper.
The government's decision to replace the Hebron settlement's 12 caravans with concrete structures came only hours after Powell described Israel's 34-year occupation as a humiliation, and said such outposts "crippled" the chances of genuine peace.
The caravans in Tel Rumeida are a satellite of the Jewish settlement of Hebron, the most extreme in the West Bank, noted the paper.
According to the UK-based magazine The Economist, Israel has "flouted" the 1993 Oslo peace accords by settling occupied Palestinian land with tens of thousands of Jewish citizens.
The Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international laws barring such activity in conquered lands, and virtually no country in the world recognizes them as legitimate.
As Israel moved to strengthen its presence in the Occupied Territories, more conflicts were reported.
Israeli forces entered a West Bank village and snatched two suspected militants, a 24-year-old Palestinian policeman and his brother, a 19-year-old university student, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday, cited by AP. The younger brother was once held by Israel on suspicion of belonging to the militant Hamas, the officials told the agency.
Israeli forces delayed pulling out of the West Bank town of Jenin more than a month after moving into Palestinian territory, saying they had warning of militants there planning attacks in Israel, added AP.
Since the occupation forces moved into six towns last month, the US has repeatedly urged Israel to pull out and keep its troops away from Palestinian areas.
Meanwhile, Palestinian witnesses told Reuters that tanks and bulldozers rumbled into a Palestinian-ruled area of the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza under cover of darkness and demolished 18 houses, leaving families homeless during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The army said it destroyed two uninhabited homes and denied the area was under Palestinian control, but Reuters television footage showed Palestinians sifting through the rubble to find their belongings.
The military said the raid came after Palestinian gunmen continuously fired on soldiers in the area and threw grenades at nearby outposts, according to Reuters.
Omar Abu Shaweesh, a father of six who lives in Rafah, told Reuters that the Israeli bulldozers moved in without warning and he had not had time to remove valuables.
``We were asleep when they came. We started to run, taking the children out. We were confused. We didn't know what to do but to run,'' Abu Shaweesh told the agency.
``If the world is looking for an identification for terrorism it's (Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) and if they are looking for a manifestation for destruction they should come here,'' he added.
At least 710 Palestinians and 188 Israelis have been killed since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupted in September 2000.
Sharon, who was elected on promises of rapidly securing the safety of ordinary Israelis, recently told his Likud Party inner circle to prepare for a long struggle - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
