A 9-year-old Palestinian boy was killed, when Israeli troops opened fire on the refugee camp in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, according to Dr. Abu Shaker, director of the local hospital. The boy, Tamer Abu Sarrieh, was shot
twice in the chest. Another 9-year-old was lightly injured.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb exploded Sunday noon near an Israeli tank close to the West Bank town of Jenin.
According to Israel Radio, after the blast, the Israeli soldiers opened fire on a group of Palestinians. Three Palestinians, a mother and her two children, were killed, Palestinian sources reported. Israel said their killing was a "mistake."
None of the soldiers in the tank were injured, Israeli media reports maintained.
In Bethlehem, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were holding high-level talks early Sunday to try to break the month-long standoff at the Church of the Nativity.
Israel Radio reported Sunday that Israel’s Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer was directly involved in the talks.
There were also reports that that both the Israelis and the Palestinians had agreed to deport some of the gunmen holed up in the church for a period of time, although the exact number to be deported had yet to be decided.
Late Saturday night, the head of the Palestinian civil liaison apparatus in Bethlehem, Imad a-Natsha, handed a list of 123 names of those inside the church to the Palestinian and Israeli negotiators.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Egyptian president's advisor Osama al Baz were meeting with Yasser Arafat in Ramallah on Sunday. Arafat's office said that the meeting was meant to discuss the latest political developments
After their meeting, Maher said the relationship between Egypt and the Palestinian leadership "has always been very strong, before, after and during the difficult time the (Palestinian) people have endured.
"This solidarity, the standing together, will have the effect of helping us ensure that the rights of the Palestinian people to an independent Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital will be respected," said Maher.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on Egyptian television, Arafat warned of a resumption of Israeli attacks on the Palestinian territories,
Following the Israeli offensive against the West Bank launched in late March, the Israelis "now say there remains new stages to operation Defensive Shield," Arafat said.
"We want to rebuild our institutions that were destroyed, even though he (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon) says that there are still new stages for this war," he said.
The two Egyptian officials arrived in Ramallah from Jordan. During their short stopover in Amman Airport, they conferred with Jordanian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on the latest developments in the occupied Palestinian territories. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
