High court upholds house demolitions

By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, 08/06/02

ROADMAP TO PEACE Highlights of the plan Testing the road map  OBSTACLES TO PEACE A series of occasional articles on obstacles to peace in the Middle East: Part 1: The seeds of conflict sown in settlements Part 2: Jerusalem: Center of a sacred struggle Part 3: Sacred sites caught in historic conflict Part 4: Hard-line refugees won't budge on Israel Part 5: A struggle for water, in Mideast Graphic: Tussle over holy sites A look at some of the places revered by Muslims and Jews. The refugees Where Palestinian refugees are located. Conflict over water Where the water comes from.  GLOBE MAGAZINE Into the heart of darkness Four days in the Israeli-Palestinian combat zone.   Photo gallery  MESSAGE BOARD We asked Boston.com users what they thought of the conflict in the Mideast and the Israeli offensive: Read messages

JERUSALEM -- Israeli troops killed the suspected mastermind of a Tel Aviv suicide bombing on Tuesday, while U.S. diplomats said the United States was considering moving consular offices out of traditionally Arab east Jerusalem due to security concerns.

In another move to deter potential attackers, Israel's interior minister threatened to revoke the citizenship of Israeli Arabs involved in bombings or shooting attacks on Israelis.

Early Wednesday, between 15-30 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles backed by helicopters pressed into the northern Gaza Strip, firing shells and machine guns at houses and searching for suspected militants, Palestinian security officials and residents said. A 28-year-old Palestinian died after being shot in the head, apparently by a stray bullet, as he slept on his roof, hospital officials said.

The army said it was checking the report.

Tanks began pulling back from the area about 2.5 hours after they entered. A major incursion in the camp in March left at least 13 Palestinians dead.

The latest incursion came after Israeli helicopter gunships fired three missiles at a suspected weapons factory in Gaza City on Monday, slightly injuring four people.

Despite the hard-line policies, Israelis and Palestinians appeared to be trying to work out cease-fire proposals that could lead to Israeli troops leaving some Palestinian areas.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer met the Palestinian interior minister, Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, late Monday, and more talks were planned. Yehiyeh and other top Palestinian officials were to leave the region Wednesday for talks in Washington.

The United States, meanwhile, was considering moving its consulate in east Jerusalem, which serves the Palestinian population in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A second U.S. consulate is located in the western part of the city.

The east Jerusalem consulate near the walled Old City does not meet security criteria since it is not set back from the road, said Jessica Davies, a spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate. Certain properties for a new site in the city have been considered but nothing has been finalized, Davies said.

The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as a future capital, and Palestinian officials said moving the consulate would mean the United States is siding with Israel's claim to all the city.

In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak complained that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has no peace plan and suggested he was being driven by a strong dislike of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

"Sharon hates Arafat. So what? Arafat doesn't like Sharon either," Mubarak said. "Should Israelis and Palestinians pay with their lives for this mutual hatred? Especially you, the strong side, must find a way to move forward and put an end to this misunderstanding between Sharon and Arafat. Arafat, I tell you, is not the issue. Negotiations can be held without the leaders."

Mubarak made the unusually frank comments to Israeli reporters who covered a meeting Monday between the Egyptian president and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. The remarks were published in Israeli newspapers Tuesday. Sharon's advisers declined comment. Peres said Mubarak expressed much more moderate views during their meeting.

Also Tuesday, Israeli forces killed the suspected mastermind of a Tel Aviv suicide bombing and another militiaman in a firefight near the northern West Bank town of Jenin, residents said.

Both men were members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militia linked to Arafat's Fatah movement. One was Ali Ajouri, 23, accused by Israel of sending two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Tel Aviv on July 17. Three foreign workers and two Israelis were killed in the attack.

Walid Hafez, a grocery store owner, said the two men's bodies were found under a tree and behind a rock, where they apparently tried to take cover.

"We found a lot of bullet casings near the bodies," Hafez said.

The Israeli military said troops encountered the two wanted men in Jabaa village and killed them in a chase.

In Jerusalem, Israel's Supreme Court rejected a petition by Palestinian relatives of terror suspects whose homes are slated for demolition by the Israeli military. The petitioners asked for 48 hours notice so they could go to court to try to stop the demolitions. The military said soldiers would be put at risk if a warning was given.

Israel's interior minister, Eli Yishai, from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, threatened to revoke the citizenship of Israeli Arabs involved in carrying out attacks on Israelis.

"If I stop one terrorist from killing one Jew, not to mention more than that, it will be worthwhile to revoke the citizenship of 10 or more and to stop this terrible plague," he told Army Radio.

Israeli Arab leaders and dovish opposition politicians denounced the proposed measure as racist, but Sharon called it a "correct, judicious and balanced decision."

Peres said he believed such a policy would be struck down by Israel's Supreme Court. However, the attorney general ruled the interior minister was acting legally in making the threat.

Israel occupied seven of the eight major towns and cities in the West Bank after back-to-back suicide bombings in Israel in mid-June.

Israeli officials denied reports in the Israeli media that the army was drawing up plans in case the occupation requires Israel to renew full civil administration of the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- running basic services as it did before the Oslo peace accords.

Amos Gilad, coordinator of army operations in the territories, said Israel had no intention of bringing back military administration. "We would not be able to do it even if we wanted to," he said.