Efforts to agree a peace package in the middle-east are to continue despite Palestinian oppostition to the current proposals acceptted by the Israeli government and a rally in Jerusalem tonight in which an estimated hundred thousand Israelis demonstrated their opposition to plans to cede control of any part of the holy city.
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Israelis plan mass rally as tensions rise |
Earlier today a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, Mr Ahmed Korei said the current US proposals were an unacceptable basis for negotiation saying President Bill Clinton had not taken full account of PLO leader Mr Yasser Arafat's reservations.
Opposition to Mr Clinton's proposal is also being expressed in Israel where the prime ministerial election is due to take place on February 6th. Many public figures claim Prime Minister Ehud Barak is prepared to concede partial sovereignty of Jerusalem to Palestinians as part of a US-proposed peace deal.
The US president's special envoy Mr Dennis Ross is due in the region on Wednesday to hold separate talks with Israelis and Palestinians in what could the last chance for resolution before Mr Clinton leaves office on January 20th. But a senior US aide is reported as saying that an accord would be hard to achieve in that time span.
While the peacemaking stalemate continues, more violence flared today in parts of the region.
A Palestinian died in hospital after being hit by Israeli gunfire in an incident near the West Bank town of Nablus in which Palestinians threw rocks at Jewish settlers, Palestinian officials said. Earlier, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile Palestinian gunmen fired at an Israeli car along a road leading from Jerusalem to the Jewish settlement of Givat Zeev in the West Bank, wounding an Israeli child, the army said.
Palestinian gunfire hit an apartment building in Gilo on the edge of Jerusalem but caused no casualties in the first attack on the settlement in a month.
Reuters