Israel must withdraw from the Gaza Strip, no matter how well Islamic militants do in Palestinian parliamentary elections a month before the pullout, Israel's defense minister said yesterday.
The minister, Shaul Mofaz, responded to Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's suggestion Monday that Israel consider calling off the pullout if Hamas militants win the balloting, scheduled for July 17.
"The disengagement will not be canceled," Mofaz told Israel Army Radio. "The disengagement is a complex, historic and heartbreaking move that puts the Israeli government to a very difficult test, but is vital to its future. I think we must carry out the disengagement under any circumstances."
PHOTO: AFP
Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and is sworn to Israel's destruction, is expected to make a strong showing in its first run for the Palestinian parliament, but is not expected to rout the ruling Fatah party. It is honoring a de facto truce with Israel, but has rejected calls by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to disarm after the vote.
Shalom questioned whether Israeli could evacuate Gaza if Hamas were to win the vote.
"Would there be any way to negotiate peace when their main goal is the destruction of Israel?" he asked. "Would there be any way to go ahead with disengagement?"
On Monday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon confirmed in TV interviews that Israel would -- as expected -- delay its pullout from Gaza and four small northern West Bank settlements to mid-August from late July.
Sharon pinned the delay on religious sensitivities: The original timetable would have coincided with a three-week period in which observant Jews mourn the destruction of the biblical Temples in Jerusalem.
Many Jewish authorities have ruled that there is no religious prohibition for carrying out the evacuation during this period, so critics say Sharon is using the religious argument because the government is unprepared for the formidable task of relocating some 9,000 settlers.
The government insists it is ready.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat complained that the Israelis are going it alone. "We want to coordinate but we find ourselves waiting for the next Israeli dictate, the next unilateral decision," he told reporters.
Sharon told Israel TV the pullout would start between Aug. 15 and 17. The operation is expected to take about a month.
In his interviews, he said no decision has been made on whether to destroy the homes settlers are to evacuate.
"The only situation where we do not destroy them is if there is full coordination with the Palestinians, and that coordination is not yet complete," he said.
The current official decision is to demolish the homes to spare settlers the sight of their homes being taken over by jubilant Palestinians. But many Cabinet ministers think the homes should be left intact because destroying them would breed ill will, extend the pullout and cost tens of millions of dollars.
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
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
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