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A
manhunt east of the Gaza strip resulted in the death of two
Palestinians |
KHALIL
(Hebron), March 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Two observers,
one of Swiss and the other of Turkish origin, from the Temporary
International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) were shot dead near Halhul
northwest of Hebron in the occupied territories Tuesday evening, news
agencies reported.
While
Israelis claim the observers were shot in an area where there are no
Israeli police, the Hebron’s Mayor Mustafa Al-Natsheh told "the
observers were shot by Israeli soldiers who, according to doctors,
fired... bullets which are only used by the Israeli army."
According
to Al Jazeera satellite channel, Israeli radio aired the statement of a
Turkish observer who was wounded in the shooting. He claimed the shooter
was wearing Palestinian police uniform and carrying a Kalashnikov weapon
and that they had shouted out to him that they were international
observers but he ignored them and shot them before escaping.
In
other news, two Palestinians were killed and two Israeli soldiers were
lightly injured in a manhunt that began late Tuesday night, near Kibbutz
Kissufim east of the Gaza Strip, news agencies reported.
Meanwhile,
Israeli troops abducted a Hamas resistance activist in Hebron and a PFLF
activist in Azzariyeh village near Jerusalem.
On
a diplomatic front, Arab ties with Israel faced a possible setback when
the British Ambassador to Israel, Sherard Cowper-Coles, told the
Jerusalem Post “I wish I could do more to help Israel’s hasbara
(public relations) effort…I sometimes feel that Israel could make a
better case for itself,” British newspaper, Times, reported.
He
likened the Israeli so-called “plight” to the British conflict with
Ireland, and suggested that the Israeli imitate the British Army’s
tactics in Northern Ireland in dealing with the IRA.
Cowper-Coles
provoked Palestinians last November 2001 when he compared negotiating
with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to “wrestling with jelly.”
Sir
Cyril Townsend, Director of the Council for the Advancement of
Arab-British Understanding, and a former diplomat said Cowper-Coles had
“overstepped the mark,” Times reported.
“It
was imprudent for the British Ambassador to get involved in giving
Israel such detailed PR advice,” he said. “I like to think that he
is working flat out to get the Israeli Government to support the Saudi
peace plan.”
In
response, Cowper-Coles said his remarks were in answer to a question
about public relations, and argued that his remarks did not mean that
Britain approved of the Israel's military behavior in the occupied
territories.
