Mideast - AFP
Defiant Sharon threatens Arafat again, three Palestinians killed in Gaza
Date: Mon Apr 5,12:17 PM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) renewed his threats against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites), while three Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites).
Medical sources said the bodies of three young men had been brought to the Deir al-Balah hospital in the central Gaza Strip after troops shot them dead at the nearby Karni crossing point into Israel.
Israeli sources said troops had opened fire on three figures in the darkness late Sunday who had been spotted in a "closed military zone" approaching the crossing.
Palestinian medical and security sources said that the three, who were unarmed and dressed in civilian clothes, had bled to death overnight after the Israeli authorities had not authorised ambulances to enter the area until mid-morning.
Sharon was slapped down last week by his allies in Washington after giving an interview in which he warned that Arafat was a "marked man".
Striking a note of defiance on Monday he told public radio that his long-time nemesis was to blame for "the murder of Jews for decades".
Sharon, whose army last month assassinated the founder of the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, said earlier in the interview that "all those who kill Jews or push for the killing of Jews or Israeli citizens deserve to die."
He also brushed off US criticism over his comments, insisting that "every country which respects itself, faced with assassins, must defend itself, like the United States does".
Sharon's threats towards Arafat are widely seen as an attempt to prove that he has not "gone soft" as he prepares to evacuate most if not all of the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
In a separate interview with army radio, Sharon said there was no intention to demolish Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip when a withdrawal takes place but added that he was seeking financial compensation for them.
"We have no intention of destroying the houses in the Gaza Strip, we are hoping for contact with international organisations which can take responsibility for these buildings in exchange for financial compensation," he said.
As defence minister in the early 1980s, Sharon oversaw the demolition of settlements in the Sinai as the territory was handed back to Egypt.
But it now appears that settlers' homes and infrastructure in Gaza will be handed over to the Palestinians intact.
In February, when he first announced his intention to withdraw from Gaza as part of a wider "disengagement" plan, Sharon said 17 of the 21 settlements, which are home to 7,500 Jews living in the territory, would go.
But he said he was now in favour of an evacuation of all the settlements, as well as "no more than four" settlements in the northern West Bank.
A poll published by the Yediot Aharonot daily Monday showed that a majority of Israelis and Palestinians favour the disengagement plan which is also likely to see Israel strengthen its control over other West Bank settlements.
A total of 64 percent of Israelis said they backed the plan while the figure rose to 73 percent among the Palestinians, even though their government has been kept out of any negotiations.
A majority of Israelis (62 percent) and Palestinians (58 percent) said that the pullout should be conducted through negotiations and not unilaterally.
Sharon however says that the Palestinian leadership has not proved itself worthy of being a partner in negotiations because of its failure to stop attacks on Israeli targets.
Intelligence officials fear that Palestinian militants will seek to mar the Passover holiday, which begins with a traditional Seder feast on Monday night, with a spectacular attack.
Twenty-nine Israelis were killed in the worst suicide bombing in the country during Passover two years ago.
Hardline groups have also vowed to exact revenge since the assassination of Sheikh Yassin two weeks ago.
Extra troops and police have been deployed across the country and especially around settlements for Passover.
Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told Sunday's cabinet meeting that "during Passover, Israel is witnessing a high motivation by terrorist elements to perpetrate bomb attacks inside Israel."
He has also ordered a closure of the Palestinian territories which will last until independence day in a fortnight.
SOURCE
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