The Israeli army entered Tuesday PA areas in the Gaza Strip and went as deep as 100 meters near the Muntar crossing point (known to Israelis as Karni), reported the Palestinian news agency, WAFA.
The agency said that the occupation troops have set up army posts in PA-controlled areas.
They also entered other area in Gaza, including Al Qarrarah neighborhood, reported Al Jazeera satellite channel.
The TV report added that clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops flared in the West Bank city of Hebron, reporting no injuries.
In another incident, an Israeli soldier was hurt earlier during clashes with Palestinians at the A-Ram junction, north of Jerusalem, reported The Jerusalem Post newspaper.
The soldier sustained minor wounds.
SHARON TO MAKE POLICY STATEMENT TUESDAY EVENING
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to make a policy statement on Tuesday about the report of a U.S.-led inquiry into Israeli-Palestinian violence, an official in his office said.
The official said the statement, which would also cover "other issues", would be made at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) and carried live by Israeli television, he said, quoted by Reuters.
The report, by a committee headed by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, called for an end to nearly eight months of violence and for confidence-building measures, including a freeze on Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians and Israel welcomed the committee's recommendations, but Israel has rejected the idea of halting construction within existing settlements.
ARAFAT CALLS FOR MIDDLE EAST SUMMIT AFTER MITCHELL REPORT
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat called on Monday for a Middle East summit to be reconvened to implement the recommendations of a US-led committee on ending eight months of bloodshed in the Palestinian territories.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said violence had to end before any summit could be held, and accused the Palestinian side of "playing games."
Arafat said the Palestinian Authority accepted the report issued by a committee chaired by former US senator and Northern Ireland mediator George Mitchell, echoing comments made when a draft document was released several weeks ago, said Reuters.
Israel also reiterated that it welcomed the report, but again voiced objections to the committee's call for a freeze in Jewish settlement building, illegal under international law, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"The (US) secretary of state telephoned me today before the report was presented and explained things to me," Sharon told reporters.
Colin Powell also spoke with Arafat, said the agency.
"The draft Mitchell report is acceptable to us. We had comments, which we conveyed, and they are clear," Sharon said. "We explained our position (on settlement building)."
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, currently in Moscow, welcomed Powell's statement, saying that it would find a responsive ear in Israel, reported the Jerusalem Post newspaper.
"Basically, I think the report is a positive report. It can serve as a springboard for the renewal of the peace process," he said.
US ENVOY TO UNDERTAKE 'TIMETABLE' MISSION
Both sides welcomed Powell's announcement that he would send his ambassador in Jordan, William Burns, to help them build a "timetable" for peace.
"I hope we will have the time to reconvene a meeting between the participants of Sharm El Sheikh at a level they deem suitable as soon as possible, to begin a discussion on this report and to begin its implementation," Arafat said after talks in Gaza with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Powell said that he now has no plans to meet with either Arafat or Sharon, but that this may change, said the Post.
"Once we have had the opportunity to review the situation... I will determine what more I might do in a personal way to promote the process and to help with the reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians and to keep this process moving forward," Powell said.
A diplomatic source told the paper that this strategy is a “clear indication that the Bush administration has learned from president Bill Clinton's mistakes, and that Powell is first sending his emissaries to test the waters before becoming fully engaged.”
Last October, participants in a summit at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, including the United States, decided on the formation of the fact-finding commission into the causes of the violence and ways to end it.
Arafat said the Palestinians wanted to see the Mitchell report implemented along with an Egyptian-Jordanian peace plan, which also calls for bloodshed to end and confidence-building measures leading to renewed peacemaking.
At least 443 Palestinians, 13 Israeli Arabs and 87 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza flared last September.
Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon, cited the Mitchell report's call for an immediate cessation of violence in rejecting a summit now, said the Post.
SHARON, US AMBASSADOR DISCUSS MITCHELL REPORT
Sharon met with US Ambassador Martin Indyk, late Monday night to discuss the Mitchell report, Israel Radio reported.
American sources reported that Sharon and Indyk discussed the development of a framework and time table for instituting the measures proposed by the Mitchell report for ending the violence and creating confidence building measures, said the radio, cited by Haaretz newspaper.
Sharon’s office said that Israel informed the Americans that a cooling off period of at least two months was necessary before Israel would consider implementing the confidence building measures mentioned in the Mitchell report.
U.S consul-general Ron Schlicher also attended the meeting, which lasted for two hours.
Indyk and Schlicher are to meet with Arafat on Tuesday to discuss the report with the Palestinians, the report added.
EU RAPS ISRAEL ON HUMAN RIGHTS, SETTLEMENTS
The European Union appealed to Israel on Monday to show respect for human rights in the occupied territories and to halt and reverse the building of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, said Reuters.
At talks in Brussels of the EU-Israel Association Committee which oversees bilateral ties, the 15-nation bloc also condemned what it called the "disproportionate use of force" in the present conflict.
But Israeli officials attending the talks said the EU, which wants to play a bigger diplomatic role in the region, should show a more balanced approach. They also rejected EU criticism of Israeli exports from the illegal Jewish settlements.
"The EU has always recognized Israel's legitimate security concerns, but these must be addressed with full respect for human rights and within the framework of the rule of law," the EU said in a statement.
"In this context, disproportionate use of force is inadmissible," it added.
The EU, represented at Monday's talks by current president Sweden, condemned Israel's extra-judicial killings of Palestinians and slammed its settlements policy.
"Settlements are illegal under international law and constitute a major obstacle to peace," it said.
"The EU strongly urges the Israeli government to reverse its settlement policy as regards the Occupied Territories, including East Jerusalem, and to put an immediate end to all settlement activities," said the statement, endorsed by all 15 EU states.
But Ehud Gol, deputy director-general of the Israeli foreign ministry, said the EU risked appearing biased in the conflict, singling out for criticism a recent speech by European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten.
"It gives the impression to the Arab side that Europe is completely on the side of the Arabs and criticizing Israel in a disproportionate and exaggerated manner," he told reporters.
Israel's ambassador to the EU, Harry Kney-Tal, dismissed the Union's efforts to clamp down on Israeli exports of citrus fruits and other products from the Jewish settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank and Gaza, said the agency.
"Customs borders derive from political borders. In all treaties agreed with the EU, there is no definition of the geographical zones," he said.
Under their association agreement, Israeli exports are exempted from customs duties. Israel says the disputed exports are worth only $200 million but the EU puts the figure higher.
The EU is Israel's biggest trade partner, accounting for nearly a third of Israeli exports.
For all their frustration with Israeli policies, the EU is likely to stop well short of threatening economic sanctions. Some member states, notably Germany due to memories of the Holocaust, are deeply reluctant to take action against Israel.
PALESTINIAN POLICEMAN DIES OF INJURIES
A Palestinian policeman dies Tuesday of injuries he sustained Friday when Israeli helicopters shelled the West Bank town of Betunya, reported the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA.
Khaled Al Astal, 21, was declared clinically dead Friday– Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
