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."
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS