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Members of terrorist group Hamas. (AP - File)
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06/24
Ynetnews |
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| By israelinsider staff and partners June 24, 2005 |
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"All of Palestine, from the river to the sea, will be liberated by the mujhadeen (martyrs) and their rifles, not by pointless diplomatic meetings," said Rian.
His comments are part of a sharp offensive by Hamas leaders in recent days. The group has warned the temporary calm is falling apart, a message echoed by Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, whose members also staged an armed march in Gaza.
In the meantime, terrorist gunmen in the Judea-Samaria town of Jenin opened fire on a police station, killing an officer, just hours after officials and terrorists in nearby Nablus agreed to bring hundreds of gunmen into security forces to appease terrorists in the Palestinian territories.
The violence in Jenin erupted after nightfall Thursday. The gunmen fired at the police station and then headed to the house of Jamal Shati, a member of the Palestinian parliament, and burned his car.
The police officer, who was shot in the head, died later in a Nablus hospital.
Security officials said one of the gunmen had been arrested earlier for firing at Shati, a member of the ruling Fatah party. Zakariye Zubeydi, local leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group affiliated with Fatah, said it was not involved in the attacks.
Zubeydi is the best-known of the local gang leaders who have taken control of West Bank streets and refugee camps during four years of Palestinian-Israeli violence. In March, Zubeydi stared down Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, who had ordered his arrest during a visit to Jenin but quickly relented.
Weakness of the official security forces and strength of the rogue terrorist groups have frustrated many Palestinians, who are complaining that their government isn't doing enough to restore order.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been trying to wrest control from the gangs by co-opting them into the security forces, finessing the demand from the U.S., Israel and the internationally backed "road map" peace plan to disarm the terrorists. The latest deal was struck in Nablus, a center of terrorist activity and control.
Palestinian officials said that under the tentative agreement, 700 gunmen would be absorbed into the security services.
Abbas' representatives have been working out such deals in Tulkarem and Jericho, the two towns Israel returned to Palestinian control under terms of a February truce, which called for transfer of five towns. Israel stopped the process, insisting that the gunmen be disarmed, not co-opted.
Abbas has said his goal is "one authority, one weapon," meaning only official security forces would be armed. That would imply disarming terrorist groups like Hamas, but Palestinians admitted that even with the Nablus accord, large-scale collection of weapons is not on the horizon. Abbas has been avoiding a confrontation, fearing civil war.
Abdel Fattah Hamayel, coordinator of the Palestinian committee negotiating with the terrorists, said the list of Nablus terrorists joining the police would be finalized in the next few days.
Nasser Juma, Nablus spokesman for the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group linked to Abbas' Fatah movement, confirmed a deal was in place.
Both men said the agreement would require gunmen to surrender weapons to the Palestinian Authority. However, Hamayel said weapons collections have been slow.
He said Palestinian authorities have collected about 110 weapons in Jericho and Tulkarem. He said terrorists in the areas where the Israeli army continues to operate, such as Nablus, are reluctant to part with their guns.
"In cities that Israel leaves, we collect their weapons," Hamayel said.
At a summit meeting this week with Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered to transfer control of two more towns.
On Thursday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz instructed the military to prepare for the handover of Bethlehem next week and Qalqiliya the week after, the Defense Ministry said. That would leave Ramallah -- where Abbas has his headquarters -- as the last of the five towns still under Israeli control.
Terrorist centers like Nablus, Jenin and Hebron are not on the list, though Israel has said it might transfer Jenin, in the northern West Bank, to facilitate its pullout under the "disengagement" plan, as it calls the pullout.
The AP contributed to this report.
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