IMEMC Weekly Report from Palestine

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This week in Palestine - a service of the International Middle East Media Center, imemc.org, for the week of January 29th to February 4th, 2005.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday February 8th in the first meeting between the leaders of the two sides in over four years.

Israeli invasions of Palestinian areas continued this week, in the midst of a flurry of political decisions by both Israel and the U.S. in regard to the Palestinian people.

Monday at noon, Israeli soldiers killed Nourhan Eid, 10, and injured another child, age 7, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, while they were playing in the playground at a UN administered school in the city.

On Tuesday, the Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz agreed to a request by the Palestinian Authority to reopen the Rafah border crossing, in the Gaza Strip, after nearly two months of closure -- but the Israeli government made the opening conditional on the Palestinian Authority enforcing a ceasefire by Palestinian groups, even while Israeli invasions continue.

On Wednesday 40 acres of Palestinian farmland was destroyed by the Israeli army near Hebron, and 50 more acres of Palestinian land was seized by the Israeli army near Qalqilia.

On Thursday, Mohammad Kamel Al-Ghabin, 18, died after nearly a month in critical condition. Al-Ghabin lost his arms and legs last month in an incident that left seven other teenagers dead when the Israeli army fired tank shells at them while they were picking strawberries in their family's field.

After a number of invasions by the Israeli army last week, Palestinian resistance groups began to waver on the ceasefire they had negotiated with President Mahmoud Abbas two weeks ago. Shells were fired by the Hamas resistance groups toward the illegal Israeli settlement of Gush Katif on Monday -- no injuries were reported. On Thursday night a Palestinian who threw a grenade at an Israeli military base in Gaza was shot and killed by soldiers -- three soldiers were injured. Also, four soldiers were injured Thursday night near Eshkolot settlement in the West Bank.
Sheikh Hassan Yousef of Hamas:

American president George W. Bush pledged on Wednesday to give $350 million in aid to the Palestinian authority to show the US support to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Israel receives $3 billion a year, and $3 billion more in loan guarantees from the US government.

Condoleeza Rice, meeting this week with Israeli officials in Israel, stated that peace in the region would not be possible without a 'viable, contiguous Palestinian state'. US President George Bush said that the visit of Rice aims to discuss with the Palestinians how “we and our friends can help the Palestinians stop terror, and build a peaceful, independent democratic state”, but he made no reference to the ongoing Israeli invasions and occupation of Palestinian areas.

So far, Israel has approved the immediate release of 500 prisoners, a number which almost matches the number of palestinians arrested each month, with intentions to release 400 more in the coming 3 months. but no prisoners who have been found guilty of attacking Israel will be released. Palestinian groups consider the gesture insulting, and demand the release of all of the 8,000 Palestinian prisoners currently held by Israel.

Next week's peace summit, while considered by many Palestinians to be an important step in the peace process, is being hesitantly supported by Palestinian resistance groups. Hamas spokesman Sheikh Hassan Yousef: