A Palestinian fighter was killed late Wednesday by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip. According to press reports, the Palestinan was part of a cell, which tried to infilitrate into "Morag" settlement. He was spotted by Israeli troops, who opened fire and killed him.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he expects to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon before the so called disengagement plan is implemented, i.e. before August 15. In an interview with London-based newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat published Wednesday, Abbas said he hopes the meeting would be more successful than the previous one held last month.
The last meeting, according to the Palestinian leader, “was difficult and ended with modest results.”
Ahead of these comments, a leading figure in Hamas, Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, criticized Abbas for what he referred to as his way of treatment, stressing that Hamas has lost its confidence in him for failing to implement what has been agreed upon.
"We agreed on a national point of reference but it wasn't implemented, and we agreed on safety issues and they were not implemented, and the same thing happened with the third round of local elections," he added in an interview with RNA.
Zahar said that the unilateral delay of schedules by the Palestinian Authority has negative impacted bilateral relations, condemning at the same time what he described as the verbal abuse by Fatah movement members against Hamas movement.
