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| Friday, 11 February 2005 |
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Militants ignore ceasefire, fire mortar shells at settlements JERUSALEM - Thursday (AFP) Palestinian assailants fired several mortar shells at Jewish settlements in the southern Gaza Strip overnight, without causing any injuries, but breaching a new ceasefire agreement, an Israeli military source said Thursday. "Thirteen mortar shells were fired overnight, and four more on Thursday morning against Jewish targets in the southern Gaza Strip," the source said. Several buildings were damaged, he added. An anti-tank shell was also fired at an Israeli army position near the settlement of Neve Dekalim, in the same area, without causing any injuries. The Israeli army meanwhile arrested three armed members of the Palestinian mainstream group Fatah who they had been looking for on the West Bank, the source said. Earlier Israel said it would soon readmit thousands of Palestinian workers and lift some West Bank roadblocks after agreeing a ceasefire that resuscitated hope for Middle East peacemaking. The "Quartet" of United States, Russia, United Nations and European Union sponsoring a "road map" peace plan also said they would attend a Palestinian reconstruction conference set for March 1-2 in London. Tuesday's meeting of Israeli and Palestinian leaders, while the first of its kind after four years of fighting, was only a modest first step since the truce they announced remains tenuous on the ground and core territorial disputes were sidestepped. But dampening optimism, gunfire from an Israeli settlement killed a Palestinian on Wednesday, the first death by firing since the truce was declared on Tuesday at a summit in Egypt. Witnesses said a 20-year-old Palestinian man died hours after he was shot from a Gaza Jewish settlement. An Israeli military source said troops, suspecting an infiltration attempt, had fired warning shots when four Palestinians came within 50 metres of a fence near the Atzmona settlement. He said the Palestinians fled. Militant groups said they were not bound by new President Mahmoud Abbas's truce pledge made as a basis for starting talks on statehood, but would continue to show restraint for now. |
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