Ignoring criticism, Carter embraces Hamas official in
West Bank, lays wreath at Arafat’s grave
Israeli forces entered the southern Gaza Strip early
on Tuesday and carried out searches accompanied by
exchanges of fire and explosions, wounding at least five
people, medics said.
About 20 armoured vehicles accompanied by bulldozers
and two helicopter gunships moved 1.5 kilometres inside
the Hamas-controlled Strip near the Kissufim crossing
point with Israel.
They searched a school and other buildings in Al-Qarara and
Wadi Al-Salqa. Israeli troops and Palestinian activists
exchanged fire and a number of blasts were heard in
the area.
“Five people were wounded by gunfire and missiles fired by
the Israeli occupation. One of them is in a serious condition,”
Dr Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services,
told AFP. He added that three were wounded when an Israeli
tank shell struck a house east of Al-Qarara village.
The army said in a statement that during the operation
“forces identified several gunmen approaching the soldiers.
The force fired at them and identified hitting one of them.”
In an earlier operation Israeli aircraft raided the Maghazi
refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip overnight,
targeting activists of the Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).
A member of the DFLP’s military wing was killed late on
Monday and three other Palestinians were wounded in an
Israeli air raid on the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian
medics said.
Meanwhile, former US President Jimmy Carter on Tuesday
sparked a new spat with Israel after he embraced a Hamas
politicianand laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat
during a visit to the West Bank.
Israel accused Carter, the broker of the first Arab-Israeli
peaceaccord three decades ago, of “dignifying” extremists.
But the ex-president vowed to meet Hamas’ supreme
leader later this week in Syria.
Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is on a private peace
mission to the Middle East. His itinerary also includes stops
in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Syria where the
virulently anti-Israel Hamas movement is headquartered.
He then returns to Israel next Monday.
Carter has been shunned by Israel this week, and the White
House has criticised him for his willingness to meet with
Hamas leaders. Carter says the US and Israel should
stop isolating the Islamic group, whose control of the
Gaza Strip threatens to undermine
Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
“Since Syria and Hamas will have to be involved in a final
peace agreement, they have to be involved in discussions
that lead to final peace,” Carter said in the West Bank city
of Ramallah.
On Tuesday, Carter laid a wreath at Arafat’s grave, breaking
with US policy. President George W. Bush cut off contacts
with Arafat before he died in 2004, blaming the long-time
Palestinian leader for the breakdown of peace talks and
subsequent wave of violence. Bush did not visit Arafat’s
grave when he visited Ramallah this year.
During the ceremony, a two-man honour guard escorted
Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. Carter placed the wreath
on the grave then solemnly nodded before turning away.
Later, a Palestinian host told Carter that Arafat’s resting
place was temporary, and the Palestinians hope to move
his remains to Jerusalem one day.
Later, Carter attended a reception organised by his office
for Palestinian dignitaries in Ramallah. At the gathering,
Carter embraced Nasser Shaer, a senior Hamas politician,
meeting participants said.
“We hugged each other, and it was a warm reception,”
Shaersaid. “Carter asked what he can do to achieve
peace between the Palestinians and Israel ... and
I told him the possibility for peace is high.”
Shaer, who served as deputy prime minister and
education minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian
government that unravelled last year, is considered a
leading member of the Islamic group’s pragmatic wing.
After a stint in an Israeli prison last year, he is now a
professor at a West Bank university, teaching comparative religion.
Palestinians say Shaer, an academic, was not involved in
Hams attacks against Israel, and Israel has never charged
him with violent activity.
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