WASHINGTON, July 6: Washington is likely to step up pressure on Israel in coming weeks to stop construction on a controversial fence between Israel and the West Bank, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
US objections to the fence signal a new willingness by the administration of President George W. Bush to be tough on Israel and to get involved in details of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, insiders and observers told the Times.
National security advisor Condoleezza Rice criticised the Israeli government’s construction of the security fence in a meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during her trip to the Middle East last week.
In response, Sharon said the fence “had no political significance” and that it was only being built as a response to “security concerns”.
Sharon stressed he would not back down on the issue, even if it caused a disagreement with Washington.
“The very fact that Condi Rice raised the issue of the fence with Sharon is significant,” an administration official told the Times. “We will be back on this issue if things don’t improve.”
Israel began building its 350-kilometre long security fence in June last year in a bid to keep Palestinians from entering Israel to carry out attacks like suicide bombings.
ABBAS-YASSIN MEETING: Talks between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas and the spiritual leader of the Hamas movement Sheikh Ahmad Yassin were “cordial and positive,” culture minister Ziad Abu Amr said on Sunday.
“Abbas made a courtesy visit to Yassin and the unofficial talks between them focussed on the issue of prisoners and other subjects,” said Abu Amr, who serves as Abbas’ liaison with other Palestinian movements.
The visit on Saturday “took place in a positive and cordial atmosphere, and the two men exchanged their views on the situation on the Palestinian scene,” added Abu Amr, who took part in the talks.
Four Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, announced a suspension in anti-Israeli attacks on June 29 but conditioned it on Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners from its jails, ending incursions and the targeted killing of militants, and lifting the blockade on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s compound.
Palestinian sources, commenting on the talks, said that Abbas had asked Sheikh Yassin for his support towards a conciliatory approach on the prisoners issue.
The Israeli daily Haaretz warned Sunday a negative or inadequate Israeli response on prisoners could derail the truce.
For their part, Hamas leaders denied any political issues were brought up in Abbas’s meeting with Yassin, who is blind and ailing.
TRUCE ACCEPTED: The Palestinian Popular Resistance committees on Sunday announced their commitment to the three-months truce that was announced a week ago by the Fatah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas movements.
In a communique released on Sunday the committees said they agreed on a three-months hudna (truce) in accordance with the Palestinian stance of national unity and their responsibility towards the Palestinians aspirations.
The communique, however, included conditions that Israel should release all Palestinian political prisoners and end all forms of military operations, raids, and assassination operations.
The committee also demanded Israel immediately to lift the siege imposed on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat since April 2002, halt all kinds of Jewish settlement activities and respect the Palestinians’ Christian and Muslim holy sites.
The Popular Resistance Committees is an umbrella organization of various Palestinian factions based in Gaza.
KILLED: Palestinian militants in Ramallah killed a suspected collaborator with Israel on Sunday, Palestinian sources said.
Youssef Shelbaya, 35, was shot by masked gunman while appearing in front of a court of the Palestinian Authority where he was prosecuted for alleged collaboration with Israel.
The gunmen, who had stormed the courthouse, immediately fled the scene, but the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah movement, later claimed later responsibility for the killing, it was said.
According to the Palestinian sources, Shelbaya was believed to have acted as an undercover collaborator inside Israeli jails and detention camps.
APPROVED: The Israeli government on Sunday approved the release of around 350 Palestinian prisoners.
Ministers voted 13-8 in favour of the move at a stormy cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Ariel Sharon.
The cabinet discussed a list of prisoners deemed safe for release, drawn up by Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service.
The list was believed to exclude members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), as well as those blamed for killing Israelis.—Agencies
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