PA chief negotiator, Dr, Saeb Erekat has warned of a new aggression by the occupation forces against Ramallah and Al-Bireh.
In a news conference held at the Press Centre in Al-Bireh, Erekat spoke about the Israeli military build-up and the huge number of tanks and military vehicles in the vicinity of these two cities.
The Palestinian minister said the PA and its leader, Yasser Arafat are concerned about "the continuation of the Israeli aggression and the reoccupation of Palestinian cities and villages, as happened in Qalqilyah, Bethlehem and Tulkarem over the past hours."
Earlier, witnesses and Palestinian security sources said dozens of jeeps and armored troop carriers had entered Bethlehem in Israel's second raid into this West Bank city since Saturday.
In a bid to prevent Palestinian activists from re-entering Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, Israeli forces drove into the adjacent Manger Square early Monday, blocking off access to the church complex, an Israeli military source said. Troops also maintained a curfew on Qalqilyah on Monday as the Israeli army intensified raids into Palestinian areas.
Soldiers in jeeps drove into Manger Square at the heart of the city before dawn, and closed off access to the Church of the Nativity, an Israeli military source said. The Israeli source said the measure was taken "so the terrorists would not escape" to the church.
The Israeli soldiers arrested four or five members of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement in the Dheisheh refugee camp, Palestinian sources said. Israel Radio reported that troops in Deheisheh arrested a senior member of the Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. It identified the man in custody as Ahmad al-Mughrabi, saying that he was one of the most wanted Palestinian fugitives in the area.
Also arrested was the sister of the young woman suicide bomber who attacked a Jerusalem supermarket about two months ago.
The Palestinian sources said soldiers also combed houses in towns and villages near Bethlehem. No clashes were reported.
In another incident in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources reported that a 17-year-old youth was killed by Israeli tank fire. Palestinian sources said armored troops operating in the Khan Yunis area fired a tank shell that killed Muhammad Abu al-Kheir, 17, a resident of the area. The sources said al-Kheir died of his wounds before reaching a hospital.
On the diplomatic front, senior Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat accused U.S. President George W. Bush on Sunday of "interfering in the elected Palestinian leadership" following comments by Bush that were critical of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Ending his 3-day visit to Russia, Bush expressed Sunday hope that scrutiny of Arafat's leadership by fellow Palestinians could lead to changes in the Palestinian Authority, which White House advisers say is rife with division. "There's a new attitude emerging," Bush said.
Later, in a Paris news conference with French President Jacques Chirac, Bush said he was sending U.S. officials to the Middle East next week. CIA Director George Tenet and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns will work with officials willing to push for reforms, U.S. officials said.
"The good news is that many in the Arab world are now working with us to help create an environment" that will lead to creation of a Palestinian state alongside the Jewish one, Bush said at the news conference. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
