Representatives of the United States and Great Britain met
Palestinian officials in Ramallah to finalize details over
the incarceration of six wanted Palestinian militants holed
up in Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Mukata
compound in the city.
Under the terms of a U.S.-brokered deal to end the siege of
the PA chairman, the six Palestinians are to have British and
American guards and will be incarcerated near Jericho.
American and British guards will be dispatched to the region
to ensure that the four killers of assassinated tourism
minister Rechavam Ze'evi, as well as PA finance chief Fuad
Shubeiki -- suspected of masterminding the Karine A weapon-
smuggling affair -- and PFLP leader Ahmed Sa'adat remain
behind bars.
White House spokesman Arie Fleischer said that the six would
be transferred to U.S. and U.K. jailers in a facility near
Jericho very soon. Fleischer added that the American guards
would be non- military, but "not pinstriped diplomats."
"These are going to be United States monitors, security
officials . . . nonmilitary, not troops," Fleischer told
reporters.
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said that IDF troops
would withdraw from Ramallah in the next few days.
The six have been holed up with Arafat in his compound since
the start of the siege. Israel has said that it would not
withdraw its troops from the city until the six were handed
over to stand trial.
Britain announced that it was sending an advance party of
officials to the region ahead of the implementation of the
plan. Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the three-
strong team would ensure that conditions were safe for the
deployment of British and American personnel.
Israel's cabinet voted Sunday in favor of the American
proposal by 17 votes to 9.
After a makeshift Palestinian court last week sentenced
Ze'evi's killers to sentences ranging from one to 18 years in
a trial hastily arranged in Arafat's compound, Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon said he was sticking to his demand that the four
men implicated in last year's murder, be tried in an Israeli
court. Now he has apparently backed down and accepted the
American compromise.
Testifying in the Knesset, the coordinator of IDF activities
in the area said that the IDF had supplied tremendous amounts
of food in the past three weeks. Defense Minister Ben Eliezer
said it was enough for 14 restaurants. Among other
commodities, Arafat got 13,200 pitas, 420 cans of choumous,
sausages, pickles, cheese, tuna (423 cans), coffee (135 kg),
tea (155 boxes), sugar (360 kg), jam, chilba, vegetable soup,
eggplant salad, more meat, potatoes (100 kg), chicken, pears
(60 kg), oranges, clementinas, lemons, lettuce, watermelons
(24), olives, corn, cola (720 bottles), rice, salt, zaatar,
dates, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, apples, bananas, kiwis,
Seven Up (720), tomatoe paste, spinach, eggs, squash, dill,
peas, chalva, more cheese, spices, 3000 kaffiyas and hundreds
more other food items. This is in addition to medecines,
cleaning products, tooth brushes, tooth paste, shampoo and
more.
Still, Israel has not stopped its fight against terror and on
Monday its army entered Hebron, the largest Palestinian city
in the area in its mission to destroy the terrorist
infrastructure. Early reports said that at least 10
Palestinians were killed in fighting.
Hamas sources said that among the dead was one of the men who
was involved in the attack Saturday at the nearby settlement
of Adura, in which four Israelis were murdered including a
five year old girl. The murderers dressed as Israeli soldiers
and surprised the settlement early Shabbos morning. After
their murderous business they managed to escape in the
confusion.
The other Palestinians killed were a member of the Al Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades, and a member of Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat's Force 17 presidential guard. Two
aides of the Tanzim head in Hebron were also killed during
the incursion. The Tanzim head was killed last week in an
Israeli strike.
The army also arrested 45 Tanzim, Hamas and Islamic Jihad
militants. IDF troops declared a curfew, confining
Palestinians to their homes. Soldiers found material used to
make explosive devices in a building in the center of Hebron
that also housed wanted Palestinians.
Along with Jericho, Hebron had been the only West Bank city
not included in Operation Defensive Shield. An IDF spokesman
said that the operation in Hebron would be "for a limited
time."
