GAZA
CITY, September 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A Palestinian
Hamas activist was killed and 30 civilians were injured in the latest
Israeli air strike against the resistance group in Gaza Monday,
September 1, as the European Union's top diplomat sought to restrain
Israel from assassinating Palestinian activists.
Palestinian
security sources and witnesses said that three rockets had slammed into
a car as it was being driven near government offices in the center of
Gaza City at around 3:30pm, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Two
members of Hamas' armed wing managed to escape after the strike which
wounded four children and one woman, witnesses and sources said.
It
was the sixth such attack by Israeli pilots since mid August.
European
Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana was due to meet Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon late Monday when he was expected to urge his
government to hold back on such attacks.
"The
position of the European Union is that these types of actions (targeted
killings) are not conducive to building more confidence and trust and
you should try to avoid them," Solana spokeswoman Cristina Gallach
told AFP.
Solana
gave a downbeat assessment of the situation during talks in Amman where
he met Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb.
"The
situation is not good. It is a critical situation but I do think that we
will be able to overcome it," Solana said.
Solana
was dispatched to the region amid fears that the roadmap - the peace
plan sponsored by the United States, United Nations, Russia and the EU -
could be permanently scampered by the upsurge in violence.
"The
roadmap is the only program which is at this point on the table,"
added Solana. "We have to maintain it and to do the utmost to make
it work."
Wolf
Meets Erakat
Meanwhile,
U.S. envoy John Wolf, tasked by President George W. Bush with overseeing
the implementation, was also holding talks in the West Bank town of
Jericho Monday with former Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat
who is close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The
U.S. has refused to talk directly to Arafat but recently appealed to him
to work with his Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas to bring an end to the
cycle of violence.
Arafat,
whom Israel accuses of trying to wreck the peace process, is involved in
an increasingly bitter power battle with his one-time ally Abbas.
The
speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Ahmad Qorei, said in remarks
published Monday that the relationship between the one-time allies was
now so fractured that they were no longer able to work together.
