The leadership of the Palestinian Fateh faction, presided over by President Yasser Arafat, urged the group's members to consolidate a ceasefire with Israel that took effect on Wednesday under the auspices of CIA chief George Tenet.
In a statement issued after an overnight meeting, Fateh's central committee urged the "grassroots and executives of the movement, and the Palestinian Authority, to consolidate the ceasefire...and prevent acts that could strike a blow at the higher interests of the Palestinians," according to the Palestinian news agency, WAFA.
Fateh said the ceasefire was an "important first step to implement the Mitchell report and the Sharm El Sheikh agreements,” adding that “all sides should implement these agreements with full responsibility.”
The committee, whose meeting was presided over by Arafat, urged the US administration to push the peace process forward and boost resumed negotiations with Israel. It also urged the US administration to stop Israel from all settlement activities, according to the statement, cited by WAFA.
It also urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to "return to the negotiating table" and support a "just and comprehensive solution" in the Middle East.
Palestinians and Israelis accused each other on Friday of having violated the fragile two-day-old ceasefire, as 25 Palestinians were wounded by rubber-coated steel bullets in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Since the outbreak of the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict last September, Reuters reports that Palestinians have killed approximately 88 Israelis with weapons ranging from stones and knives to machineguns and car bombs. The latest suicide bombing raises that toll by at least 20. Israeli military sources have reported well over 600 injuries to Israelis of Jewish descent.
In the same time period, according to CNN, Israeli soldiers and armed Jewish settlers have killed 13 Arab Israelis and 450 Palestinians with weapons ranging from machineguns and tanks to US-made Apache helicopter gunships and F-16s. The most recent Israeli tank attack raises that death toll to at least 453.
According to Amnesty International, nearly 100 of the Palestinians killed were children.
In addition, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has reported over 14,000 Palestinians wounded.
Jewish author Noam Chomsky, who according to a New York Times Book Review article is “arguably the most important intellectual alive,” has been quoted as saying: “State terrorism is an extreme form of terrorism, generally much worse than individual terrorism because it has the resources of a state behind it.” - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
