|
Palestinians recruit oficers for pullout
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-07 09:09
The Palestinians are recruiting thousands of police in the Gaza Strip to
prevent attacks on Jewish settlers and soldiers during Israel's planned pullout
from the area this summer, a security official said Monday, a significant step
toward coordination after months of deadlock and years of bloody conflict.
The new signs of cooperation, including a meeting of technical experts late
Monday, came despite a confrontation at a disputed holy site in Jerusalem in
which Israeli police hurled stun grenades to disperse hundreds of Palestinian
stone-throwers.
The violence erupted on "Jerusalem Day," when Israel marks the anniversary of
its capture of east Jerusalem — home to the city's holy sites and Arab
population — in the 1967 Mideast war.
When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his Gaza withdrawal plan
last year, he envisioned the pullout as a unilateral act meant to boost Israel's
security after several years of fighting. The pullout also includes uprooting
four isolated settlements in the West Bank.
Since the election of Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian leader following the death
of Yasser Arafat in November, Israel has expressed a willingness to coordinate
the withdrawal. Those efforts, however, have yielded little progress.
Some 1.3 million Palestinians live in Gaza, an impoverished, densely
populated area where the militant group Hamas is popular. Israel wants
assurances that the 8,500 settlers slated for evacuation, and the soldiers being
sent to carry out the mission, won't be harmed.
Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said the
Palestinians are recruiting 5,600 police officers in Gaza to ensure security
during the withdrawal. He said they want to prevent damage to abandoned
properties and ensure that Israelis are not attacked.
"The plan includes protecting any installations or houses or facilities that
Israel leaves, and to prevent any action from the Palestinian factions," he
said.
The Palestinian forces are ready to coordinate their actions with Israel or
act on their own, he said, adding that he does not expect any trouble from
militant groups, which have largely been honoring a four-month cease-fire with
Israel.
"We want to make the Israeli withdrawal smooth and fast," he said. "If they
are leaving, we should not impede them."
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz promised harsh retaliation if any
attacks are staged during the pullout. Speaking to a parliamentary committee,
Mofaz said he has asked the Palestinians to deploy a large force during the
monthlong operation to ensure quiet, meeting participants said.
"It has been decided that the disengagement will not take place under fire.
We will do everything possible to coordinate the disengagement with the
Palestinians," Mofaz said after the closed meeting.
Palestinian officials said technical teams from the two sides were meeting
Monday evening to discuss coordination.
Late Monday, Israeli negotiators turned over information about the 21 Gaza
settlements slated for evacuation. Israel's army radio said the documents
included details about the local infrastructure.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the handover was a step in the right
direction, but said the information was incomplete. The Palestinians have said
information about the electric lines, water supply and other resources is
essential to planning for the post-Israel era.
"It is important that they hand us everything to make the Gaza disengagement
a success and make the 'soft landing' we all wish to see," he said.
In addition to the threat of Palestinian attacks, Israel is bracing for the
possibility of violence by settlers. Many Gaza settlers oppose the pullout, and
some extremists have pledged stiff resistance.
Mofaz said during his parliamentary testimony that the military will forcibly
disarm settlers who don't turn in weapons voluntarily. Mofaz also said he would
urge settlers to evacuate children before the withdrawal to spare them traumatic
sights.
In Jerusalem, meanwhile, some 3,000 police were deployed to prevent friction
on Jerusalem Day, which Israelis mark with marches and speeches. With tensions
running high, a confrontation erupted Monday morning as several Jewish visitors
toured the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, accompanied by police.
Jordan denounced the confrontation at the compound and urged the
international community to help end "violations" against the sanctity of the
Muslim holy shrine.
Police actions and the visit of Jewish visitors "represent a flagrant and an
unacceptable defiance," Religious Affairs Minister Abdul-Salam al-Abadi said
Monday.
The site is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, home to the biblical Jewish
Temples. The competing claims to the hilltop compound make it one of the most
sensitive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said hundreds of Palestinians
threw stones at the visitors and their police guards. Additional forces stormed
the walled compound, throwing stun grenades to disperse the crowd, Ben-Ruby
said.
A Palestinian man who tried to attack a Jewish visitor was arrested, he said.
Two Jewish visitors were slightly hurt by stones.
Abbas said the Jews should not have been allowed into the mosque compound.
"The Israeli government and the international community must stop these
unjustified and dangerous violations," he said.
Adnan Husseini, director of the Islamic Trust, which runs the mosque
compound, said he had urged police to bar Jewish visitors from the site because
of the tensions over Jerusalem Day.
In 2000, a demonstrative visit by then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the
shrine triggered bloody protests that escalated into more than four years of
Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top World
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
