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| JERUSALEM, July 28 — Jewish settlers returning from the funeral of an Israeli soldier assaulted Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday, killing a 13-year-old girl and wounding several other people, Palestinians said. The attack came as the United States announced planned talks with Palestinian officials on security reforms, and as Israel pledged to ease hardships on Palestinians, including release of $15 million in withheld tax revenue. |
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THE TROUBLE
erupted as the settlers were carrying the body of the soldier from the
biblical Tomb of the Patriarchs, through the narrow streets of Hebron, to
the cemetery. The Palestinians, though confined to their homes by an
army-imposed curfew, began throwing stones at the funeral procession,
according to photographers at the scene. The armed settlers responded immediately, firing guns at Palestinian homes and using metal bars and stones to smash windows of cars and homes in Hebron’s Old City. Palestinian Nizin Jamjoum, 13, was standing on the balcony of her home when she was fatally shot in the head, said her brother Marwan, 26, who was also injured. At least six Palestinians were hurt, doctors at the city’s Alia Hospital said. The injured included Ahmed Natcha, age 8, who was stabbed when a group of settlers broke into his home and smashed furniture, said the boy’s father, Hussain Natcha. Ahmed was in stable condition, the father said. The Israeli military said it was aware of only one injured Palestinian, and that he had received treatment from the troops. |
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The army said it was attempting to calm tensions in Hebron, where
several hundred Jewish settlers live among more than 100,000
Palestinians. SECURITY TALKS This latest violence comes as the United States continues to press for negotiations to end 22 months of bloodshed. The planned negotiations between the United States and Palestinians were expected to be the most senior contact between the U.S. administration and Palestinian Authority officials since President Bush called last month for Yasser Arafat to be sidelined as Palestinian leader. “Last week I met with an Israeli delegation. This is part of the process of moving forward to help the Palestinian community transform itself,” said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who is on a south Asian tour. He said the meeting would be held early next month after he returns to Washington. “I hope people who come to see me will have the power to speak for the Palestinian people and will have the authority to execute whatever decisions we arrive at,” Powell said. |
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| Three of the nine children of
Yosef and Hanna Dickstein cry Sunday at a religious service before their
parents' funeral in Jerusalem. The parents were killed with their
9-year-old son on Friday by Palestinian militants. |
 He said the identities of the Palestinian delegates will be announced soon. But a weekend of violence cast a shadow on Powell’s announcement. On Friday, Palestinian gunmen killed a Jewish settler couple, one of their 10 children and an Israeli soldier in an ambush near the West Bank city of Hebron. POSSIBLE CONCESSIONS The attack followed pledges by Palestinian militants to avenge an internationally condemned Israeli airstrike that killed 15 people in Gaza City last week, including nine children and Salah Shehadeh, head of the military wing of the Hamas group. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres reaffirmed Israel’s intention to ease hardships for 700,000 Palestinians under Israeli curfew in seven of eight West Bank cities reoccupied last month after suicide bombings in Israel. |
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Separately Sunday, the Palestinian finance minister and the No. 2 official at the Israeli finance ministry met and finalized details for Israel to transfer an initial $15 million in withheld tax revenues to the Palestinians by Monday, both sides said. The money is part of an estimated $600 million Israel has withheld over the past 22 months of fighting. Israel has agreed to release some of the money to help ease the Palestinians’ precarious economic situation, provided it is not used to fund attacks. SECURITY REFORMS TOP AGENDA Speaking at a news conference in New Delhi, Powell made clear that a U.S. plan for reforming the Palestinian security forces would be a theme of his talks. He said other issues would be peace moves by the “quartet” of mediating entities — the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union — and a task force trying to make progress toward peacemaking. |
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“I will be
discussing with them security transformation, the work of the task force
... and how we can link in with the Palestinian leadership,” Powell
said. In a policy speech last month, Bush accused top Palestinian officials of “encouraging, not opposing, terrorism,” an allegation they denied. He called for an externally supervised effort to rebuild and reform Palestinian security services. Powell and White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice met two senior Israeli officials on July 22 and went over a U.S. plan for reforming the Palestinian security forces. Powell said on Sunday the names of the Palestinian participants of the delegation would be announced later. But Palestinian Cabinet minister and senior negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Saturday the delegation would include himself and new Interior Minister Abdel Razzak al-Yaha, who is in charge of the Palestinian security forces. Erekat said the talks would take place Aug. 5 and 6. Peres said he planned to be in Washington on Thursday, Aug. 1 on an official visit, but a Foreign Ministry spokesman said he had no details on whom he would meet. |
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS Elsewhere in the region on Sunday: .gif){kind=small} Israeli soldiers arrested three suspected
militants in the village of Burkin, southwest of Jenin. Among those
detained was Mohammed Abu Tabikh, 22, a member of the radical Islamic
Jihad, group members said. Also in Burkin, Israeli forces ordered the
family of the late Majid Tayeb, a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade,
to leave their home. Soldiers then fired tank shells at the two-story
building and destroyed it, Palestinians said. The army said it was
checking the report. Tayeb was killed a year ago when a stolen car he
purchased blew up with him inside. Palestinians say Israel was responsible
for his death. |
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The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
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Settlers attack
Palestinians in Hebron
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