Jun 18, 12:53 PM
EDT
Israel May Retaliate for
Girl's Murder
By MARK LAVIE
Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel on Wednesday threatened
retaliation for a Palestinian ambush that killed an Israeli
girl and wounded her sister, just minutes after the
Palestinian prime minister finished meeting with leaders of
militant groups in a failed effort to persuade them to stop
attacks.
As part of a cease-fire package, Palestinian Prime Minister
Mahmoud Abbas offered the militant group Hamas a political
role in his government, a participant in the Tuesday talks
said, but no agreement was reached.
Two militant groups claimed responsibility for the shooting
late Tuesday - the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Abbas'
mainstream Fatah movement, and the PFLP-General Command,
headed by Ahmed Jibril, which has a minimal presence in the
West Bank. The latter claim was issued in Lebanon.
The shooting threatened to ignite another round of attacks
and retaliation, further endangering the already wobbly
U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is heading to the region
over the weekend for high-level talks aimed at salvaging the
peace plan, two weeks after President Bush sponsored it at a
summit in Jordan.
In between, there's been violence. Egyptian mediators and
Abbas have tried to persuade militant groups - including the
Al Aqsa Brigades and Hamas - to halt attacks against Israelis.
The meetings are to continue through the week, and Egypt plans
to invite the various factions to Cairo to finalize an
accord.
But the slaying of the girl drew an Israeli threat of
retaliation.
"The Palestinian Authority is talking with everybody, is
talking with the Hamas, is talking with the Americans, talking
and talking and doing nothing in order to stop this
bloodshed," Israeli spokesman Avi Pazner said. "If the
Palestinian Authority continues to do nothing, we will take
all appropriate action to make this bloodshed stop."
The shooting took place just inside Israel, close to the
West Bank town of Qalqiliya. The military said gunmen used a
water passage to get around a protective wall between the West
Bank and a main north-south highway and opened fire on the
car, carrying a family of eight. The assailant then escaped
back into the town.
A 7-year-old girl, Noam Leibowitz, was killed and her
5-year-old sister was seriously wounded. Two other family
members, a child and grandfather, were slightly wounded, the
military and rescue workers said.
The military imposed a curfew on Qalqiliya and searched for
the gunmen.
The week after the June 4 launch of the "road map" plan for
an end to bloodshed and creation of a Palestinian state by
2005 was marred by Israeli airstrikes and a Hamas suicide
bombing in Jerusalem, killing and wounding scores on both
sides.
A failed helicopter strike last week targeted Abdel Aziz
Rantisi, a Hamas leader. Hamed Haboush, 45, a bystander
wounded during the attack, died Wednesday, the fourth person
killed by the strike.
Until the highway ambush, however, there had been four days
of relative calm - and the outline of a truce deal was taking
shape in the intensive talks in Gaza. But there was no
guarantee that either the militants or Israel would agree to
the elements.
A key plank would be an Israeli pledge to stop killing
militant leaders, sources close to the talks said. Hamas and
other violent groups also demanded that Israel release
thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
In exchange, the militants would declare a "hudna," the
Arabic term for temporary cease-fire. Israelis charge that a
hudna would allow militant groups to regroup and rearm.
Israel has been demanding that a cease-fire be the first
step of a crackdown to dismantle the groups. Israel TV
reported Tuesday that Israel would accept a cease-fire of
three to six weeks. Israel officials were not available
comment.
Abbas says he will not order a crackdown and wants a
voluntary cease-fire.
After three hours of talks Tuesday night in Gaza between
Abbas and militant leaders, Ismail Abu Shanab of Hamas said
the group's officials were "still discussing this subject
within the movement and have not yet made a final
decision."
Also Wednesday, Palestinians said Israeli soldiers in a
watch tower opened fire on a car from the Palestinian cellular
phone company in Gaza, wounding three workers, two seriously.
The military had no immediate comment.
Overnight, Israeli forces blew up the home of a fugitive
member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades near the West Bank
town of Nablus.
Israeli forces reinforced with tanks and bulldozers also
destroyed four houses where 65 people lived in the Rafah
refugee camp in Gaza, Palestinian security sources said. The
army said it destroyed three abandoned buildings being used as
a base for militants to plant explosives on the nearby
Israeli-Egyptian border. | 
