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Contents:
Egypt Sends Troops to Eastern
Sinai
Officials said the troops would man the 12-kilometer Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip. They said Israel has agreed to the arrangement. So far, nearly 500 Egyptian police commandos have arrived in El Arish in northeastern Sinai, officials said. They said they would be joined by another 250 police troops later this week. The deployment of the commandos would begin once Israel leaves the Egyptian-Gaza border. Officials said the Egyptian commandos would be supported by anti-tank rockets, armored personnel carriers and helicopters in an effort to maintain border security and stop weapons smuggling. "Deployment will begin over the next week," an official said. Officials said Egypt has been training the Palestinian Authority to take over border security from Israel. They said 2,000 Palestinian forces would be deployed along the border with Egypt. Israel plans to complete the eviction of Jewish residents from the Gaza Strip this week and hand over the area to the PA. More than 85 percent of the 9,000 Jewish residents in the area were removed last week.
Al-Kidwa:
During statements to the representatives of Egyptian media institutions, Al-Kidwa defeated the Israeli allegation that the pulling out is a "painful concession". He asserted that the "disengagement" is not an Israeli "concession" stressing the Palestinian National Authority's (PNA) commitment to the vision of the viable Palestinian state with a full Palestinian sovereignty. Al-Kidwa affirmed that the Israeli disengagement does not end the fact that Israel is still and occupying power and should shoulder the human and legal responsibilities according to the 4th Geneva Convention. Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned to an international consensus saying that any solution of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict should be mounted by two states and a just solution of the issue of refugees, Jerusalem, water resources and borders. He stressed that such attitude was clearly presented by US President George Bush's vision, the Road Map plan as well as the UN Security Council Resolution 1515. Al-Kidwa reiterated that such solution, based on ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a viable- with integrity- Palestinian state. Regarding the legal status of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank after the Israeli pullout, Al-Kidwa said that Israel did not hide its desire to declare ending its occupation of the Gaza Strip ignoring the principle of integrity of the Occupied Palestinian territory. Minister of Foreign Affairs concluded by saying the Israel tries to get rid of the international obligations, stressing that as long as Israel control the crossings and borders, it means that it is still an occupying power, according to the international law.
The Acid Test
On Friday morning, August 19th, 2005, Deputy director of Beersheba's Sorocca hospital, who treated the 75 policemen, appeared on the Voice of Israel radio program to say that he had seen no acid burns or any other marks of violence during their eviction of residents from Kfar Darom and eleven other Jewish communities on the previous two days. Some showed slight irritation around the eyes, possibly from turpentine solution. Later that day, MK Michael Eytan, chairman of the Knesset law committee, published a press release in which he denounced "the acid lie", and described it as "a blood libel" propagated by the government of Israel. The question remains: Will the media outlets that made reference to the alleged "acid attack" now correct themselves . . . and will the spokespeople of the government of Israel apologize?
Will the Government of Israel
Adhere to the law and forbid assets from falling into the hands
of terrorists? The following query should be posed to spokespeople of the government of Israel: The government of Israel stresses that it has ordered its troops to "carry out the law". What is the government of Israel doing to enforce clause seven of the disengagement law, enacted by the government of Israel on June 6th, 2004, which forbids the transfer of any confiscated property to those "involved in terror"? Here is the text of the June 6th, 2004 government decision: www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/DisengagemePlan
The May 1, 2005 brochure produced by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs mysteriously eliminated the phrase "that is not involved in terror". Real Estate Assets: "Israel will aspire to transfer industrial, commercial, and agricultural facilities to an international party that will put them to use for the benefit of the Palestinian population". At a time when the Palestinian Authority negotiates the transfer of confiscated assets to terrorist organizations, the above question is quite relevant.
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