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| Middle East |
| Yet another ceasefire plan... |
| 2002-08-06 |
| Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer met late Monday night with the Palestinian interior minister, Abdel Razak Yehiyeh and Yasser Arafat's senior security advisor, Mohammed Dahlan to discuss plans for a cease-fire that would allow for Israeli troops to leave Palestinian areas. Soon as that starts to happen, Hamas and al-Aqsa will be booming and shooting just as hard as they can... A statement from Ben-Eliezer's office said the minister presented the Palestinian representatives with his "Gaza First" proposal, which calls for Palestinians to take over security in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank Israel has occupied in exchange for Israel easing restrictions on Palestinians. That proposal would also allow for Israeli troops to withdraw once Palestinians assume full control. According to the plan, the Israeli forces will withdraw from âquietâ areas in which the PA infrastructure has not been so severely damaged - such as Gaza and Jericho, and possibly Bethlehem and Hebron - if the Palestinians assume responsibility for security in these areas. Worked like a charm when they were in charge there before, didn't it? The plan is aimed at serving as a "pilot project" and if the Palestinians manage to prevent attacks in these cities that the Israeli army vacates, it will be extended to include other PA-controled areas. But they won't prevent attacks from there, so why bother? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |