In an unprecedented incident, a bomb, believed to have be planted by Palestinians, exploded in the on the railroad connecting Binyamina and Zichron Yacov in mid-way between Tel Aviv and the northern coastal city of Haifa, reported Israel Radio.
No one was injured, but the last wagon was damaged, said the radio, adding that all the railway transportation from Tel Aviv to the northern Israel was stopped.
Reports have said that more Israelis have resorted to rail transportation after a series of bus bombs carried out by Palestinians .
PALESTINIAN KILLED IN CLASHES WITH ISRAELI TROOPS IN GAZA
One Palestinian was killed and three others were injured during clashes Wednesday with Israeli troops near the Martyrs junction (known to Israelis as Netzarim) in the Gaza Strip, reported Al Jazeera satellite TV channel.
Fifteen-year-old Mohammed Salim was shot dead as he passed an Israeli army watchtower near the heavily guarded Jewish settlement of Netzarim in Gaza Strip, hospital officials told Reuters.
Palestinian hospital workers at the scene said he had been carrying his schoolbag and had been shot without provocation.
The Israeli military said it could not immediately give details.
Earlier, Israeli tanks shelled areas in the Gaza Strip, injuring a mother and her daughter and destroying PA buildings.
The TV report said that Israeli tanks shelled PA-controlled areas near Sofa entrance in Dier Al Balah town, injuring residents.
Israeli troops also destroyed a Palestinian police station in the area, according to the report.
The Israeli attack came only one day after three Palestinians were killed and more than 250 others were injured during clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as they marked the 53rd anniversary of the Nakba.
MORE ISRAELI INCURSIONS
Israel sent tanks and bulldozers rumbling into at least two areas under Palestinian control in the Gaza Strip, said reports.
Al Jazeera said that orchards were removed and building demolished in the latest incursion.
The Israeli incursions followed signs that Washington is stepping up diplomatic efforts to stem nearly eight months of violence since a Palestinian uprising erupted against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
BOMB EXPLODES IN EAST JERUSALEM, NO INJURIES
A bomb exploded on Wednesday in east Jerusalem outside the walls of the Old City, reported the Army Radio, adding that there were no injuries.
Initial police estimates are that the bomb was in a bag, said the radio, cited by Haaretz newspaper.
ARAFAT DENIES QATAR ARRANGING FOR MEETING WITH SHARON, ARRIVES IN TUNIS
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said at a press conference in Cairo that he has no idea about Qatari efforts to arrange a meeting between him and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Doha.
The leader was speaking to reporters after a meeting with the new chief of the Arab League Amr Moussa (see related story).
He later arrived in Tunis for talks with President Zein El Abedine bin Ali.
AL AQSA BRIGADES CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR SETTLER'S KILLING
Meanwhile, Al Aqsa Brigades on Wednesday claimed responsibility for killing a female Jewish settler overnight, said the TV report.
The Jerusalem Post newspaper identified the settler as Idit Mizrahi.
The paper said that she was killed as she rode in a car driven by her father Moshe on the Allon Highway.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held the PA "responsible for the murder of an innocent civilian," said the Post.
Mizrahi, 22, was hit in the back and neck and died shortly after.
Her father, 51, was shot in the leg and taken to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
Her brother, Amit, 20, was lightly wounded by glass shards, the paper added.
Israeli soldiers and police sealed off the area and began searching for the perpetrators - two different weapons were used in the attack - and Israeli officials said "the terrorists are believed to have fled in a waiting car to the nearby village of Deir Dibwan." The army imposed a curfew on the village, said the paper.
HAMAS TO RESPOND 'VERY SOON' FOR ISRAELI ASSASSINATION OF ACTIVIST
The Islamic Resistance Hamas movement has vowed to respond "very soon" to the assassination of one its activists early on Tuesday.
"Our response will be quick and decisive for the assassination of Abdel Hakim Manaemeh," said Abdelaziz Rantissia, a Hamas leader.
Manaemeh, a bodyguard of the movement's spiritual leader Seikh Ahmed Yassin, was killed by Israeli tank fire in the Gaza Strip.
Rantissi urged Palestinians to reject negotiations and wage war against Israel just days after the Palestinian Authority released him from jail in a move that enraged the Jewish state, said Reuters.
"We were forced to leave Jaffa, Haifa and Tel Aviv (after Israel's birth in 1948), and recovering from the impact of that can only be achieved when war returns and forces the invaders out," Rantissi told hundreds of supporters at a rally in Gaza.
The crowd chanted: "Negotiation is treason.”
EU REJECTS TO IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON ISRAEL
The agency also reported that the European Union reiterated calls for Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks but rejected suggestions that it impose economic sanctions on Israel over policies such as its repeated incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas.
URGENT OIC MEETING ON PALESTINIAN CRISIS PLANNED
An urgent meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will be held May 26 to discuss the Palestinian crisis.
The announcement was made by Qatar's Foreign Minister Hamad Al Thani.
He told reporters that there was an urgent need to discuss "the deteriorating situation."
Asked about Qatar's offer to host a meeting between Arafat and Sharon, the Qatari official said that "we have to do something to stop the bloodshed and if that means inviting the two sides to Doha, then so be it."
Al Thani visited Washington early last week and held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
PALESTINIANS CONSIDERING THIRD TRY ON UN RESOLUTION
Palestinians on Tuesday considered a third attempt at getting the UN Security Council to provide protection for civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, said Reuters.
But no request for an emergency meeting has been put forward and no draft resolution has been presented.
Palestinian UN observer Nasser Al Kidwa said a possible resolution would be along the lines of an earlier European text.
That document asks Secretary-General Kofi Annan to consult all sides "on any kind of mechanism to protect civilians" without referring specifically to a UN observer force, said the agency.
"We are consulting groups on the possibility of convening a council meeting with the aim of taking action," Al Kidwa said.
"We will see by Wednesday whether to send something formal to the council."
He said the European draft resolution proposed in March would be the basis of a new draft with "some adjustments to make it more inclusive of the Mitchell report as well as the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative."
Al Kidwa was referring to an inquiry, led by former US senator George Mitchell, into Israeli-Palestinian violence.
In late April, Egypt and Jordan at a Cairo meeting proposed a ceasefire, an Israeli withdrawal to previous troop positions, and a resumption of talks on a peace settlement.
At the United Nations, a Palestinian call for a UN observer force to protect its civilians in December failed to get the required nine votes in the Security Council, thereby sparing the United States the use of its veto power.
In late March, however, the Palestinians obtained the minimum votes and Washington vetoed a measure that called for Annan to consult on creating "an appropriate mechanism to protect Palestinian civilians, including through the establishment of a United Nations observer force."
That draft also called for an immediate end to violence, resumption of negotiations on a final Israeli-Palestinian settlement, a ban on settlements, and Israeli payment of tax owed to Palestinians.
But Western diplomats said the United States, after negotiating on a text for five days in March, did not want to begin the process again and be maneuvered into a veto, the agency added.
"We hope that they're not going to resurface the issue here in a way that won't be helpful," US representative James Cunningham said.
"We understand they have a great deal of difficulty on the ground, as do the Israelis."
Cunningham in March argued that the defeated resolution was slanted towards condemning violence against Israeli as well as Palestinian civilians, unworkable and "more responsive to political theater than political reality."
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Tuesday said he was willing to resume peace on the basis of the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative and the findings of the Mitchell commission. Israel has expressed reservations on both proposals and rejected calls to halt all construction on settlements.
Al Kidwa said a decision would be made after further consultations with Arab countries and current meetings in Washington between senior UN officials and Mahmoud Abbas, a deputy to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
In a letter to the council, Al Kidwa said Palestinians demanded action because of escalating Israeli attacks including the "cold-blooded execution" of five Palestinian policemen on Monday. Israelis acknowledged they opened fire in an "initiated operation" after spotting "armed Palestinians."
"We believe that Israel, the occupying power, persists with these actions because of what it perceives as the inability of the Security Council to react effectively in putting an end to these Israeli atrocities," Al Kidwa said - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
