Palestinian sources said Sunday that Mamun al Zaban, 18, was killed by Israeli troops in the village of Mazra'at al Sharqiyeh, west of Ramallah. The Israeli army said the man was killed after soldiers fired at Palestinians throwing stones at them.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops captured a top Hamas operative and four other members of the group in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said. Israel Radio said Hussein Abu Kwaik, his lieutenant, Freij Rumeidah and three comrades were caught in a covert special forces swoop. In March, an Israeli tank shell killed Kwaik's wife and three of his children in their car in Ramallah, in what the army called an attack on Palestinian activists that went wrong.
In another development, Israeli troops arrested Sunday in the village of Burkin, west of Jenin, a Palestinian man who was planning to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel, reports said. Additionally, Israeli troops arrested three Islamic Jihad members in the village.
On the diplomatic front, EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, met recently in Gaza with Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, as part of the EU's efforts to promote a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians. According to the London-based Al Sharq Al Awsat, which was quoting senior Hamas sources, the meeting was reportedly held before Israel's assassination of Salah Shehada, head of the Hamas' armed wing. According to sources, at first, Hamas demanded that the meeting be held openly, but, after the intervention of a senior PA figure, the group agreed to keep the meeting a secret.
At the meeting, Yassin said that a cessation of attacks inside Israel was conditional on Israel halting all military activity against the Palestinians and releasing Palestinian prisoners currently being held. The European negotiator told Yassin that Hamas must refrain from carrying out attacks against Israel, denying Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of any reason to attack the PA.
According to the report, he spoke to Yassin via an interpreter, a member of the Palestinian security forces. The Hamas source stated that the assassination of Shehada ended all contacts between Hamas and the EU. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
