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Newsletter : 1fax0103.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Jan. 3, 2001, Vol. 9, No. 3
The next issue of Israel Faxx will be dated Jan. 11, 2001
Israeli Tanks Create Gaza Blockade
By VOA News
Israeli tanks are blocking main roads in Gaza, effectively partitioning the Palestinian-ruled strip into several areas isolated from each other. Israel also has closed the Gaza crossing to Egypt and tightened a blockade of Palestinian towns in the West Bank since a Monday night car bomb attack in the Israeli city of Netanya.
There was more gunfire in the Palestinian territories as night fell Tuesday, while Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak declared he would focus on suppressing Palestinian violence.
An Israeli soldier was wounded by gunfire while guarding a Jewish enclave near the West Bank town of Hebron. Two Israeli motorists were wounded during an ambush on a West Bank highway. Palestinian reports say that Israeli gunfire and shelling wounded about 12 civilians in Hebron and Rafah.
Earlier, Israeli soldiers in Gaza killed a Palestinian farmer working his field when they opened fire after bomb blasts near two Jewish settlements. Those bombings wounded two soldiers.
Chemical Warfare by the Palestinians
By Arutz-7 News
The Palestinians have adopted chemical warfare methods. Arutz-7 has learned that some of the bombs recently placed by Palestinian terrorists have included agricultural chemicals that can worsen the condition of victims wounded by shrapnel.
IDF bulldozers Tuesday razed three houses and a stone wall in the Arab village of Ein Yabrud, across the highway from Ofrah, where Binyamin and Talia Kahane were murdered Sunday. The buildings also likely served the terrorists who shot upon an Israeli bus several weeks ago. Residents of Ofrah continue to man the nearby hill they took over Monday in response to the murder of the Kahanes; they placed a watchtower there. The mass-protests and march to Jerusalem that began Monday, resumed Tuesday afternoon from five main intersections.
Is Barak Backtracking?
By Arutz-7 News
Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday that the chances of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians in the coming weeks are very small.
Blaming Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat for the impasse, Barak said, "In the current circumstances, and given the severe terrorist attacks, the talks have given way to intensive action on our part to stop the terrorism... We are also making plans for a unilateral separation."
He said that if Arafat responds affirmatively to President Clinton's proposals - which call for Israel to divide Jerusalem, give away the homes of tens of thousands of Jews of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, leave the Jordan Valley, and allow at least 150,000 Arabs to enter Israel - "we will have to consider our response - but not under the current level of violence."
Documents Reveal Jordan Requested Israeli Help in 1970
By VOA News
Declassified British documents say Jordan called for an Israeli air strike on Syrian troops during Amman's 1970 Black September fighting with Palestinian guerrillas.
The British documents released Tuesday confirm Jordan's then King Hussein made a request for assistance against Syrian forces who were supporting the Palestinians. The declassified papers also say Jordan requested British and U.S. moral and diplomatic support coupled with the threat of international action.
The late king and Jordanian government officials refused to confirm or deny the reported request at the time. Israel never carried out the attack, and Jordan won the fighting.
Barak Doubts Peace Deal in Coming Weeks
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has cast doubts on Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's willingness to reach a peace agreement in the near future.
Barak said he has little faith that President Clinton will be able to mediate an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before he leaves office on January 20. The Israeli leader says it is simply not reasonable to believe that an agreement can be achieved in such a short period of time.
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer is calling for Barak to launch a series of retaliatory attacks against Palestinian targets. "The sooner [a] response that will take place, the better for everyone," said Ben-Eliezer. "Palestinians should understand once and for all we do not want to play the game of bloodshed but if they want to play it, [they are] welcome.
Barak said he blames Arafat for squandering the opportunity to make peace by refusing to immediately endorse Clinton's proposals as a basis for reviving negotiations. Formal talks have been suspended since the start of the Palestinian uprising against Israel in late September.
Arafat said his people will continue their rebellion against what he describes as - Israeli aggression - against Palestinians.
