Palestinians: Settlers fire mortar shells at West Bank village
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
Palestinian sources reported Tuesday that two makeshift mortar shells were fired from the Bracha settlement toward the Burin Village near Nablus. No injuries were reported.
According to the Palestinians, Israel Defense Forces and police officers arrived at the scene to investigate the incident.
The Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported Tuesday that the makeshift bombs had the words "Sharon-1" and "Sharon-2" inscribed on them. One of the Palestinian policemen in the village said that the bombs were locally manufactured, and that they struck near the school.
About a month ago, a similar incident occurred near Nablus in which settlers fired a makeshift shell into a Palestinian village. No one was hurt.
Meanwhile Tuesday, a police representative said during a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee that the police force had set up special teams to field Palestinian complaints of settler violence in Hebron.
One of the leaders of the Zionist settlement in Hebron, Orit Struk, said at the meeting that the police habitually use harsher measures against the settlers than the Palestinians.
MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) called the Hebron settlers "bad" and added that they create an atmosphere of terror for the Palestinians, but for the IDF soldiers stationed in the area as well as left-wing activists.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998007.html Olmert: Israeli patience in face of truce violations limited
PM Olmert says Israel has shown some patience in face of truce violations, but will respond forcefully should ceasefire not be maintained; Palestinian leader Abbas: We want to keep this truce going
Yonat Atlas Latest Update: 07.01.08, 18:39 / Israel News
(Olmert's Regime agreed to this cease-fire - even though it has not been forced to end its illegal Collective Punishment of Gaza, which provoked the violence in the first place - because it believed it would allow it to create the illusion that its long-planned reinvasion of Gaza wouls be 'justified' should violence occur.)
A day after the latest ceasefire violation, a Qassam rocket fired at southern Israel, Olmert delivered a speech at the Negev Conference, saying that "nobody will shy away from the need to retaliate harshly" should the Gaza truce not be maintained.
(If Olmert considers Settler-Terrorist violence isolated acts of violence by Extremists, and therefore, aren't official violations of the cease-fire, then he must give isolated acts by Palestinian militants - reacting to the Collective Punishment which is still in effect - the same benefit of the doubt. But of course, immorality breeds contradiction ...)
"We agreed on a ceasefire that puts an end to the military buildup, Qassam fire, mortar shell fire, and any kind of terrorist activity directed at southern communities," he said.
(Israel's part of the bargain was supposed to be an end to the illegal Collective Punishment of Gaza, but Israel's Extremist politicos rejected an agreement for so long, that this was lost in time.)
'Syria talks to continue'
Turning his attention to indirect negotiations with Syria, the prime minister said that the indirect talks will continue until the process matures into negotiations that lead to a comprehensive peace deal.
"At the same time, we shall continue our talks with the Palestinians. I will be meeting with (Palestinian leader) Mahmoud Abbas and continue the indirect meetings with Syria," the prime minister said.
Before his speech, PM Olmert toured the nuclear reactor in Dimona and met with senior officials at the site.
'Sea of peace'
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed hope that a lasting peace deal with Israel could be reached before the end of the year, ahead of a meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday.
Abbas, who joined Barak and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at a Socialist International conference in Greece, said his government would work to keep alive the truce between Israel and Hamas.
"Israel will live in an island and sea of peace if Israel withdraws from Arab and Palestinian territories," Abbas told the conference. "We witness some steps in this direction which may stop this violence and bloodshed... Now there has been an agreement and we hope it will be kept. We want to keep this truce going.
"We hope that before the end of this year, and this is a hope, we can reach a true agreement for the end of the occupation and violence ...between Israel and Palestine," Abbas said, qualifying his statements by adding that "the painful truth is that we still have a long way to go to achieve success."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3562718,00.html
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