By Izzat Ramini
Albawaba.com - Ramallah
Israeli retracted late Thursady a plan to raid a Askar refugee camp near Nablus after it had earlier warned the Palestinian authorities to evacuate the residents because “they will strike at the area,” according to sources at the Palestinian Authority.
The sources said that Israel later called the Palestinians and informed them the raid was called off.
The sources said that the residents of Eebal area, the closest part of the camp to the site where a Jewish settler was killed by armed Palestinians, refused to leave their houses after they received the warning.
A Jewish settler, and a Palestinian were killed during a fire exchange the same day.
Al Jazira satellite channel reported that the Israeli authorities evacuated all the Jewish settlement around Nablus.
According to an AFP report, the Jewish settlers in Nablus area blamed Prime Minister Ehud Barak for delaying sending the army to rescue them.
Less than 24 hours before a deadline for violence in the Palestinian territories is to expire, Israeli and Palestinian leaders were blaming each other for continuing clashes that claimed two more lives Thursday, said AFP.
The agency added that the United States said it remained cautious about the progress the two sides have made in implementing US-brokered agreements forged at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit two days ago to end three weeks of deadly violence.
For his part, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said the next 24 hours will be a crucial period.
There had been fears of a major incident when an explosion rocked a headquarters of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's personal bodyguard in Bethlehem, killing two policemen, but the blast was attributed to gas bottles.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak accused the Palestinians of a "flagrant violation" of the truce after the gun battle erupted.
Israel's acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami was quoted as accusing the Palestinian Authority of other violations of Sharm el-Sheikh, including "either deliberately or by turning a blind eye allowing Tanzim militias to operate, which is a violation not only of the Sharm arrangements but also of (previous) signed agreements."
Israel has accused Tanzim, a movement led by the West Bank leader of Arafat's Fateh faction, Marwan Barghouthi, of stoking the unrest that threatens to derail the entire Middle East peace process, according to AFP.
But in an interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper, Barghouthi warned that violence could continue, regardless of efforts by the Palestinian leadership.
"The current Intifada can't be stopped by an order, just as it wasn't begun at our order," he said.
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