Saturday, November 11, 2006

Olmert courts Abbas, wants to meet him

Nazareth - After his troops killed and wounded hundreds of Palestinian citizens in Beit Hanun city in northern Gaza Strip within eight days of relentless shelling, Israeli premier Ehud Olmert said that he pays high esteem to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and wants to meet him.

"When he sits with me, Abbas will see how much we will give him. I pay high esteem to him", Olmert was quoted as saying in press statements.

He described Abbas as "rational man who opposes terrorism (the term Israel uses to label the Palestinian people's legitimate resistance against it)", adding, "Abbas is facing difficulty in controlling the armed Palestinian organizations, and I have told him so more than 20 times".

Website of the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Olmert as affirming that he was ready to release big numbers of Palestinian inmates as "an initiative of goodwill on Israel's part and for the sake of Abbas and not Hamas" in exchange for the release of [IOF serviceman] Gilad Shalit.

"I have told the Jordanian King Abdullah, Egyptian president Husni Mubarak, and British Prime Minister Toni Blair that I am ready to release Palestinian prisoners; and I say to the Palestinians: you don’t know the numbers of Palestinian inmates I am going to free for Shalit's freedom", the website quoted Olmert as saying.

Three armed wings of the Palestinian resistance factions led by the Qassam Brigades of Hamas succeeded in capturing Shalit and keep him for four months now, affirming that the IOF corporal will not be released unless Israel meets their demands of releasing Palestinian female, children, and sick inmates in addition to another 1,000 prisoners, especially those serving long terms.

In the opposite, Olmert stressed that his IOF troops' brutal aggressions on the Palestinians will continue despite the massacre in Beit Hanun, adding "I can't assure you that innocent Palestinian civilians will no longer be targeted".

In an attempt to justify the carnage, Olmert said that his troops committed a "technical error" that caused that number of victims. Palestinian people scorned Olmert's justifications, opining that such statements portray IOF troops' clear undermining of the Palestinian blood.

Israel to allow armed Abbas' loyalists into Gaza Strip:
In the same context, Hebrew media on Friday revealed that the Israeli occupation government will, most likely, allow entry of thousands of Badr force elements from Jordan into the Gaza Strip in a bid to strengthen Abbas' military power there, which is considered a Hamas stronghold.

The sources added that Israel's war minister Amir Peretz conferred with his top military lieutenants over the matter, unmasking that Israel could even supply Abbas' forces with the munitions necessary to bolster the PA chief's fist in the Strip.

Late October, website of another Hebrew daily, the Ha'aretz, unveiled that the PA presidency requested the Israeli occupation government to allow such force to come into Gaza Strip; but, the request was still under deliberation. Local observers opined that Israel's approval of the entry of such forces was, apparently, made with the aim to ignite a civil war in the PA-run lands.

PFLP criticizes Abbas over untoward remarks on resistance:
Meanwhile, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, armed wing of the PFLP, criticized statements uttered by Abbas where he described Palestinian home-made missiles as "useless, ineffective, and giving Israel the pretexts to attack the Palestinian people".

Spokesman of the Brigades Abu Alam stressed that Israel needs no reasons to justify its brutal policy against the Palestinian people, as he regretted Abbas' remarks over the Palestinian rockets, describing him (Abbas) as "the engineer of the infamous Olso agreement".

"Israel was striving hard to thwart firing of Palestinian missiles on its troops and on Israeli settlements inside the 1948-occupied Palestinian lands, but to no avail, which per se proves that those missiles were effective and useful in retaliating to the IOF aggressions against our Palestinian people", Abu Alam retorted to Abbas' remarks.

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