Palestinian witnesses said that Israeli troops shot dead Saturday evening a Palestinian in the West Bank city of Hebron. They said the troops were reimposing the curfew at the end of the day and shot 40-year-old Abdel Rahim Tawil in the head while he was driving a truck.
Elsewhere, Israeli soldiers searched houses in Nablus on Saturday, a day after Israel’s Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer has dubbed a "terrorist capital".
Soldiers knocked out doors to shops closed under curfew as the army hunted for Palestinian activists trying to evade the dragnet, witnesses said. Several people were arrested Saturday in addition to the 50 rounded up Friday, they added. The Israeli army said Saturday that its troops had detained for questioning two Palestinians suspected of involvement in attacks against Israel.
Additionally, soldiers located two pipe bombs and handguns during the house-to-house searches in the city, the army said in a statement. The army added it had destroyed a third bomb-making factory since retaking the city.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials suggested Saturday that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was willing to meet with the new Palestinian interior minister, Abdel Razak Yehiyeh. "It could be, it depends on the developments in the situation," said Sharon's spokesman, Raanan Gissin, according to AP. No date for a meeting has been set, and the Israelis were waiting to see if the Palestinians made good on promises to reform the Palestinian Authority, Gissin said.
The Palestinian Al Ayyam newspaper quoted Saturday “well-informed Palestinian sources” as saying that Sharon had asked for talks with Yehiyeh and two other Palestinian ministers ahead of their planned visit to the United States. Sharon has not met with senior Palestinian officials for months. If the proposed talks take place, it will be the third meeting between Sharon and PA officials since he was elected in February last year and sworn in as the prime minister of Israel.
Israel’s foreign minister, Shimon Peres is scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday in Cairo, a Peres adviser, Yoram Dori said.
For his part, Al Yehiyeh announced Saturday that he would meet with Ben Eliezer within the coming two days. Al Yehiyeh did not elaborate on the exact time for the meeting, but said it would take place before the Palestinian delegation heads for talks in Washington with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday.
Al Ayyam daily reported that the coming days would witness several Israeli-Palestinian meetings, where the Palestinian officials would ask for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank towns. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
