Israel Wounds Two Palestinian Arabs, Raising Concerns on Future of Truce
The Israeli army wounded two Palestinian Arabs yesterday as the men approached the Gaza-Israel border, the army said, raising concerns about the future of a shaky truce between the two sides.
In one incident in northern Gaza, two men approached the border fence, the army said. One of them stood on a post and surveyed the area, while another appeared to be laying a mine near the border, it said. Nearby troops called on them to leave and fired warning shots in the air, driving the men off.
A few minutes later, the men returned with others, and the soldiers again fired in the air, but when one of the men continued working on the ground, the troops shot him, the army said.
In a separate incident, a Palestinian Arab man approached the Erez crossing into Israel and ignored soldiers' warnings, so the troops shot him in the lower body, the army said.
Palestinian Arab health officials said two civilians were wounded in the legs by army fire in northern Gaza.
Later, Palestinian Arab militants fired a rocket into southern Israel, the army said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
The truce in Gaza took hold more than a week ago, ending five months of violence. The cease-fire has been maintained despite sporadic rocket attacks and shootings along the border.
Vice Premier Peres of Israel said the national unity government that Palestinian Arabs are trying to establish would be nothing more than a "facade" because Hamas militants who would be represented aren't interested in peace.
The moderate Palestinian Arab president, Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah Party, declared last week that efforts to form such a government had broken down. Prime Minister Haniyeh of Hamas, the group that now leads the Palestinian Arab Cabinet, denied negotiations had reached a dead end.
Hamas would use such a government in an effort to restore international funding that dried up after it took power, Mr. Peres said.
"Hamas doesn't want peace, even if we give them '67 borders," Mr. Peres said, referring to Israel's border before it captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. "Hamas wants to use Fatah as a facade to get money."
The talks between Mr. Abbas and Hamas foundered over the militant group's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence, and accept existing peace deals.
