QATAR (voa) – The Palestinian Authority says it is suspending all talks until Israel withdraws from two West Bank refugee camps.
Palestinian official Ahmed Abdel-Rahman tells Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television that both security meetings and political meetings are off as long as Israeli forces remain in the Jenin and Balata camps.
Security officials from the two sides have held several meetings recently in an effort to halt rising violence in the region.
Israeli forces pushed deeper in the Jenin camp Friday and have killed at least six more Palestinians in fighting there.
Israeli forces entered the camps early Thursday, setting off fighting that has killed at least 19 Palestinians in all and two Israeli soldiers. More than 130 Palestinians have been wounded. Palestinian victims include fighters and civilians. The latest to be killed was a nine-year-old girl who was reported hit by machine-gun fire from an Israeli helicopter.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is calling for international action to halt the Israeli assaults before chaos engulfs the region.
These are the first Israeli invasions of refugee camps since the start of the current Palestinian uprising, now in its 18th month. The Israeli army calls the Jenin and Balata camps safe havens for terrorists attacking Israelis. The U.S. State Department has repeated its concern about the situation in the refugee camps and, for a second day, urged Israel to exercise utmost restraint to avoid harm to civilians.
Palestinians say Israel is trying to destroy a land-for-peace initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia that has won support from the international community.
A new opinion poll published in Israel’s daily Maariv indicates that, for the first time since Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister a year ago, a majority of Israelis (53 percent) are dissatisfied with his performance.
