A top official of the Hamas fundamentalist group blasted the Sharm el-Sheikh summit as "totally useless" and warned in an interview with AFP Sunday that the Palestinian uprising will continue regardless.
"This summit is useless, nothing will be accomplished and its main aim is to have the uprising against Israeli occupation aborted," said Ismael Abu Shanab, one of the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement in the Gaza Strip.
"I am sorry that (Palestinian leader Yasser) Arafat has accepted to go to this summit. Some say that he can never say no to the Americans," said Shanab.
He was adamant that whatever the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting produces, "we are going to continue with our struggle against the Israeli army, against the Jewish settlements until they withdraw from our territories."
He said only one solution existed for the Palestinians, to "meet fire with fire"
The summit would only play into the hands of the Israelis, and "wipe from the eyes of the world Barak's criminal attacks" on the Palestinian population, Shanab charged.
The summit, which Monday draws together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Arafat, US President Bill Clinton, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II, is aimed at seeking an immediate ceasefire in the violence.
Shanab did not rule out suicide attacks by young Hamas extremists on civilian targets in Israel.
The main weapon in the Hamas armory is the suicide bomber, and according to Shanab, it is well stocked with young men aged between 15 and 20.
"Many young people are ready to die," he said. "The Israeli army cannot protect their civilians."
Fearing a wave of bomb attacks following the mass release of Hamas prisoners from Palestinian jails, Israel has thrown a ring of steel around the separated Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with a display of firepower including armored vehicles, helicopters and warships.
Troops have been deployed in numbers also in Arab east Jerusalem and the public has been asked to be vigilant for suspicious packages.
Shanab said that Hamas prisoners freed from Palestinian jails Friday after Israeli helicopter gunships rocketed Gaza City and Ramallah in the West Bank, were hiding after police had demanded their return to prison.
The Israeli army chief of staff, Shaul Mofaz, told reporters Sunday that two of the most dangerous Hamas leaders, Mohamed Deif and Mahmud Abu Hannud, had been released from jail, despite Palestinian denials.
"The Palestinians have a revolving door. The Palestinians released all their Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners. The possibility of suicide attacks inside Israel and in the territories has a high potential and the responsibility is on the Palestinians," Mofaz said.
More than 100 people, the vast majority of them Palestinian, have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops and Jewish settlers during an upsurge in violence since the end of September.
Shanab said Monday's gathering at the Red Sea resort would "damage" the Arab summit planned for October 21-23 in Cairo on the clashes between Israel and the Palestinians.
He added, "Yasser Arafat has committed himself to a narrow path since Oslo," referring to the peace accords concluded in the Norwegian capital in 1993.
"We have our differences, but we are all in the same boat, facing the same challenge." – LONDON (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
