Israel suspended contacts with the Palestinian Authority and slapped tough travel restrictions on the West Bank after Palestinian gunmen killed three young Israelis and wounded five in two drive-by shootings near Jewish settlements.
The Palestinian attack near the Gush Etzion block of settlements on Sunday was the deadliest since July. It followed Israeli intelligence warnings that Palestinian militants, who claim they drove Israel out of Gaza by force, would now shift their focus to the West Bank. Israel pulled out of Gaza in September in a unilateral move.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group with ties to the ruling Fatah party, claimed responsibility. However, Israeli media quoted security officials as saying they believed the Islamic militant Hamas might have been involved.
The attacks renew international pressure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to crack down on militants. Abbas is to meet later this week with Washington with US President George W. Bush. Abbas has been reluctant to take harsh measures against militants. Involvement of gunmen with ties to Fatah's Sunday attacks would underscore his failure to impose control, whether by force or by persuasion.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the shootings were "unfortunate" and accused the gunmen of trying to sabotage efforts to revive peace talks. He urged Israel to reconsider the travel restrictions and suspension of contacts, saying "angry messages, collective punishment and violence will just add to the complexities."
Erekat said Israeli negotiators failed to show up for a meeting on Sunday evening on the re-opening of the Rafah terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border. The opening of the crossing is crucial for the economic recovery of Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said all contacts have been halted.
"In Israel, we have no desire to return to a reality of daily attacks against Israeli civilians," Regev said. "We want to send a very strong and sharp message to the Palestinians, and the temporary suspension of talks is that message."
Israel responded with tough new measures limiting movement in the West Bank, security officials said, adding that the restrictions would be in place for a long time.
The West Bank towns of Hebron and Bethlehem, closest to the Gush Etzion attack, were sealed, and private Palestinian-owned cars were barred from the West Bank's main north-south road, Route 60. Soldiers were checking cars on Route 60 yesterday.
Arrest raids will be stepped up, security officials said. In the past month, Israel has rounded up some 700 activists in the Islamic militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad, disrupting Hamas' preparations for Jan. 25 parliament elections. Overnight, soldiers arrested 19 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank, the army said.
The decisions to restrict movement in the West Bank were made at high-level consultations led by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. They reversed a relaxing of restrictions gradually implemented since a February ceasefire.
The limitations, in place for most of the past five years of fighting, crippled the Palestinian economy and caused widespread hardships.
Israel has demanded the Palestinians dismantle militant groups if it wants to restart peace talks.
"The Palestinian Authority has to move from the talking stage to the action stage," Mofaz said. "We will not be able to continue in this process if the Palestinian Authority does not start taking concrete actions against the terror groups."
Eleven people, including a former minister, were arrested in Serbia on Friday over a train station disaster in which 16 people died. The concrete canopy of the newly renovated station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on Nov. 1, 2024 in a disaster widely blamed on corruption and poor oversight. It sparked a wave of student-led protests and led to the resignation of then-Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic and the fall of his government. The public prosecutor’s office in Novi Sad opened an investigation into the accident and deaths. In February, the public prosecutor’s office for organized crime opened another probe into
RISING RACISM: A Japanese group called on China to assure safety in the country, while the Chinese embassy in Tokyo urged action against a ‘surge in xenophobia’ A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo. The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries. It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents. Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese
YELLOW SHIRTS: Many protesters were associated with pro-royalist groups that had previously supported the ouster of Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin, in 2006 Protesters rallied on Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced more than 260,000. Gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country’s army, which has always retained substantial power in the Southeast Asian country. Police said there were about 2,000 protesters by mid-afternoon, although
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
RSS