Yasser Arafat installed an eight-member emergency Cabinet with Ahmed Qureia as prime minister, an apparent attempt to deflect possible Israeli action against him following a suicide bombing.
Israel threatened last month to "remove" Arafat, without setting a time, and there were new demands for his expulsion after Saturday's attack by Islamic Jihad. Nineteen Israelis were killed in a crowded beachfront restaurant in the northern port city of Haifa.
Aides to the Palestinian leader said Sunday he was clearly concerned about possible Israeli action after the bombing. There was no direct move against Arafat on Sunday; instead, Israel bombed a target inside Syria that it claimed was an Islamic Jihad training base, striking deep inside its neighbor's territory Sunday for the first time in three decades.
In installing an emergency Cabinet, Arafat makes it more difficult for Israel to move against him. The US appears willing to give Qureia a chance, and any Israeli action against Arafat could force Qureia's immediate resignation and cause chaos in Palestinian areas.
Qureia, who had been tapped for the job last month, had initially planned to present a larger Cabinet to parliament for approval today. Arafat's decree Sunday meant that Qureia takes office immediately.
"Taking into consideration the difficult situation of the Palestinian people and the necessities imposed by the situation, President Arafat issued a presidential decree by which he declared a state of emergency ... and formed an emergency government headed by me," Qureia said.
Qureia also said he would try to implement the US-backed "road map" peace plan and "work ... to get out of this situation of chaos in the Palestinian territories."
Qureia has not outlined his security plan, though he is not expected to dismantle militant groups, as required by the road map. Palestinian Authority officials fear a confrontation with Hamas and Islamic Jihad will trigger internal fighting.
Qureia said three portfolios were assigned: Nabil Shaath as foreign minister, Salam Fayad as finance minister and Nasser Yousef as interior minister.
Qureia listed the other five members of the Cabinet as Saeb Erekat, the current chief negotiator; Nabil Abul Hummus, the current education minister; Jamal Shobaki, the current minister of local affairs; and two legislators from Arafat's Fatah movement, Abdel Rahman Hamad and Jawad Tibi.
The Cabinet is to be sworn in today and will immediately hold its first meeting, Qureia said.
Earlier in the day, Arafat spoke by video conference with security chiefs in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity. Details of the conversation were not released.
The Palestinian official said security forces have taken some action against militants in recent days, seizing more than 180kg of explosives in the West Bank town of Jericho and arresting five would-be attackers.
The claim could not immediately be verified independently, and the Israeli military said it could not comment until the end of Yom Kippur.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops fired from a tank-mounted machine gun at a group of Palestinians crossing a road closed by the military. A 26-year-old man was killed and three people were wounded, witnesses and hospital officials said.
The road had been closed earlier in the day as part of travel restrictions imposed after the suicide bombing. Troops sealed off parts of Gaza, cutting the 32km long coastal strip into four sections, to prevent the movement of militants and weapons, army officials said.
In the West Bank town of Jenin, troops demolished the family home of the Islamic Jihad bomber, 27-year-old Hanadi Jaradat. The army routinely destroys homes of Palestinian militants to deter others from carrying out attacks in Israel.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of