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Acting PM Ehud Olmert (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners April 11, 2006 |
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Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will complete his plan to withdraw from much of Judea and Samaria, strengthen Israel's hold on key settlement blocs and draw the country's final borders before the next U.S. presidential election in 2008, a senior Olmert aide said in a published report Monday.
Olmert, whose Kadima Party won last month's parliamentary election, had previously said he aimed to complete his plan by the end of his term in 2010. But Yoram Turbowicz, who is slated to be Olmert's chief of staff, said it needed to be finished while U.S. President George W. Bush remained in office, according to the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official confirmed that the Palestinians' new Hamas government is seeking to gain control over the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel - which has led to a fresh cycle of violence, including Israeli artillery fire on Monday.
An 8-year-old girl was killed Monday when two Israeli artillery shells hit her house in northern Gaza, witnesses and hospital officials said. The military did not immediately comment on that incident but confirmed that Israel has been shelling populated areas where terrorists fire rockets at Israel.
Thirteen others in the house were wounded, ranging from one year old to 17, doctors said. A relative, Samir Ghraben, 29, said children were hit as they played in the house and called it a "cold-blooded massacre" by Israel.
Olmert has said he wants international legitimacy for the borders he plans to draw, and his allies believe that Bush, who has indicated Israel will likely keep large settlement blocs under any final peace deal, would be amenable to his program.
"We have a very tight timetable, because we seek the support of the U.S. administration and President Bush. It has to be done by November 2008," Turbowicz was quoted as saying.
Turbowicz, who spoke during talks with Kadima's potential coalition partners Sunday, said Israel would not hold a referendum on the plan, according to Yediot.
Eyal Arad, a senior Olmert adviser, denied there was a new timeframe for the plan, but said Israel and the U.S. would have to agree on the borders several years before it was finalized.
"Reaching an understanding with the U.S. on the details is very likely to be done by '07, very roughly. But it is not a deadline," Arad said.
Olmert says the withdrawal will improve security and help ensure a Jewish majority in areas under Israeli control.
Olmert has said he preferred to carry out his plan through peace talks with the Palestinians, but would take unilateral action if necessary. The election of the militant Hamas group in January Palestinian parliamentary elections made renewed peace moves unlikely.
On Sunday, Israel's Security Cabinet, a small group of top ministers, declared the Hamas-led Palestinian government a "hostile entity" and ruled out contacts with it.
In the wake of the government decision, the Israeli military on Monday ejected Palestinian security officials from the District Coordination Office in Jericho, which the two sides used for security coordination.
Palestinian police packed their belongings and folded up the Palestinian flag as they prepared to leave the office.
The office's other civil functions, including coordinating Israeli work permits for Palestinians, would not be affected, the army said.
Israel has refused to deal with Hamas, demanding that the militant group halt violence and recognize Israel. Israel also has suspended the monthly transfer of $55 million in tax revenues it collects for the Palestinians, dealing a tough blow to the cash-strapped Palestinian government.
The U.S., EU and Norway have already suspended aid to the Palestinian Authority. EU officials on Monday were meeting to decide what further action to take.
The aid and tax cutoffs have already crippled the Palestinian treasury just two weeks after the Hamas-led Cabinet took office and Palestinian officials said they did not know when they would be able to pay the monthly salaries of the government's 140,000 employees. Paychecks were due on April 1.
About 3,000 Hamas supporters marched through Gaza City on Monday to protest the aid cuts.
"This is an unfair and unjust decision. These countries are playing the symphony of democracy day and night and they have forgotten that democracy brought this government to power," said Ahmad Bahar, deputy speaker of parliament and a Hamas leader. "Their decision is collective punishment for Palestinians."
Violence between Israel and the Palestinians has also escalated in recent days with militants in northern Gaza launching homemade rockets into Israel and the army responding by pounding suspected launch sites with artillery. Israel has also carried out a wave of airstrikes against militants in Gaza in recent days.
Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the Hamas-led government, said the group, which was not participating in the rocket firing, would try to get control over the attacks by negotiating with other militant factions.
"We want resistance to be arranged and organized," he said, adding that it will take time to bring the situation under control.
An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the topic, confirmed Hamas was trying to regulate the rocket firing because the uncontrolled violence is against its interest.
Islamic Jihad, which has fired many of the rockets, said it remained committed to continuing attacks.
"It is time to be united against the occupation aggression and not to talk about a new period of calm," Mohammed al-Hindi, an Islamic Jihad leader, told the local Sawat Al Quds radio station.
AP contributed to this report.
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