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PA President Mahmoud Abbas (AP)
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Palestinian FM Mahmoud Zahar, Tuesday. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners April 5, 2006 |
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| Palestinians stand next to a crater left by a missile fired during an Israeli air strike in Gaza, Tuesday. (AP) |
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned an Israeli missile strike near his Gaza office and appealed for international action to stop the attacks, though Israel's apparent intention was to warn the Hamas-led government to stop Palestinian rocket barrages from Gaza.
Israeli warplanes on Tuesday fired three missiles into a Gaza security compound where Abbas has his office. The complex is mostly abandoned, and Abbas was in the West Bank at the time. It was the first such Israeli attack since Hamas took power last week.
The military refused to comment about the purpose of the raid, but Abbas did not appear to be the target, either directly or indirectly. Israeli security officials have been saying that Israel needs to send clear messages to Hamas that it must halt attacks, and Israel pledged to intensify its military strikes after Gaza militants fired a Katyusha rocket at Israel last week for the first time.
The missile strike at the compound, hit often in previous years, dug deep craters and wounded two police officers. Abbas' office is about 100 meters (yards) from the targeted security compound.
Abbas, who was elected separately a year ago, called for international intervention to stop what he called Israel's "destruction for the sake of destruction." He said he contacted "the U.N., Russia, the EU and Arab states and told them that these actions complicate daily life and affect our human and social status."
Asked about the possibility that Israel targeted a Palestinian security force that is under Hamas authority, Abbas replied that who is in charge of the various forces is none of Israel's business. "It is internal business," he said, and Israel "doesn't have the right to interfere." Abbas controls some of the armed units, and the rest are in the purview of the new interior minister, Said Siyam of Hamas.
Israel and Hamas are sworn enemies. Israel, along with the U.S. and European Union, labels Hamas a terrorist group for sending dozens of suicide bombers into Israel, while Hamas does not accept the presence of a Jewish state in the Middle East.
While Hamas does not appear to be directly responsible for the rocket attacks, its leaders have said that militants who attack Israel will not be arrested, justifying a deadly suicide bombing at a Samarian settlement last week as legitimate resistance against "Israeli occupation".
Israeli tanks also shelled the northern Gaza Strip Tuesday.
The Israeli army said it launched shells at empty fields in northern Gaza to deter militants from launching homemade rockets into Israel. Earlier Tuesday, militants fired several rockets, causing no injuries. Such barrages take place almost daily.
Also Tuesday, Israel's new governing coalition started taking shape when the moderate Labor Party said it would join Kadima, led by acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Labor flirted briefly with trying to set up a government of its own but abandoned the idea for lack of support.
A Kadima-Labor coalition would be committed to Olmert's plan to set Israel's borders, unilaterally if necessary, by 2010, withdrawing from large parts of the West Bank.
Final results from last week's election gave Kadima 29 seats and Labor 19 in the 120-seat parliament, requiring them to bring in additional parties to secure a majority. Coalition talks are expected to take several weeks.
Olmert was named acting premier on Jan. 4, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was felled by a stroke.
Sharon, who remains in a coma, was to undergo surgery Tuesday to restore part of his skull, removed during brain surgery to stop bleeding from the stroke. But doctors had to postpone the operation when they found that he had a minor respiratory infection, the hospital said.
The surgery is seen as a step toward moving Sharon, 78, to a long-term care facility. He is not expected to recover.
Palestinian FM to UN: Put an end to Israel's "illegal colonial policies"
The Palestinian foreign minister said the new Hamas-led government believes its struggle against Israel is just, but wants to live side by side in peace with its neighbors.
The language in Mahmoud Zahar's letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was reminiscent of that used by U.S. President George W. Bush and the Quartet of international parties trying to promote a settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia. They have called for two states living side by side in peace and security.
But Zahar also lambasted Israel's "illegal colonial policies" which he said "will ultimately diminish any hopes for the achievement of settlement and peace based on a two-state solution."
Hamas, which was the surprise winner of January's election, has refused to recognize Israel, accept past Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements or renounce violence, as Israel and the Quartet have demanded.
The letter made no reference to these three key issues, but the reference to a possible two-state solution - even negatively - was seen as a possible opening.
So was Zahar's final sentence: "Like all other people in the world, we look forward to live in peace and security and for our people to live a dignified life in freedom and independence, side by side with our neighbors in this sacred part of the world." Again, diplomats said the statement appeared to be deliberately ambiguous, leaving in question whether Israel was viewed as a neighbor.
At the same time, Zahar spoke out strongly against Israel's policies and actions.
He told Annan, "we believe in the justice of our cause and the ability of our people to be steadfast in their struggle against military occupation of our land and against Israel's illegal measures."
"The logic of might and the imposition of facts on the ground are invalid and void and will only lead to more destruction and lack of stability," he warned.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Annan was studying the letter carefully.
Israel, the United States and some European countries have said they will have no ties with a Hamas government unless the Islamic group accepts the Quartet demands, and Israel has already stopped transferring tax revenues it collects for the Palestinian Authority. The U.N. says the Palestinian Authority needs at least US$60 million to pay salaries for March.
Zahar's letter reaffirmed the U.N.'s historic responsibility to finding a solution to the question of Palestine and asked Annan to work with the Quartet "to initiate serious and constructive dialogue" with the Palestinian National Authority and its new cabinet.
The Palestinian people want an independent state, with Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of Palestinian refugees to return and to receive compensation, he said.
"We also hope that some countries will reconsider their positions and the hasty decisions, particularly with regard to the withholding of assistance and resorting to the language of threats instead of dialogue," Zahar said.
He assured Annan of the cabinet's readiness "for serious and constructive dialogue and our readiness to work with the United Nations and countries of the world to promote international peace and security through the achievement of peace and stability in our region, based on a just and comprehensive solution."
But Zahar said Israel "continues with its illegal colonial policies through the seizures and annexation of our land in its attempts to create a fait acompli on the ground. Israeli forces also continue to use "excessive military force," destroying buildings, using aircraft and artillery against densely populated civilian areas, and carrying out "extra-judicial executions," he said.
"The international community is called upon today to take urgent and tangible measures to put an end to these grave Israeli violations and to put pressure on the government of Israel to comply with international law," Zahar said.
AP contributed to this report.
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