Tidbits From Israel

Israel denies shooting Gaza girl

The Israeli army has denied reports that its soldiers were responsible for the death of a 12-year-old Palestinian girl in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Reports said the Iman Touba was hit in her home at Khan Younis, by a stray bullet from soldiers at the nearby Jewish settlement of Gush Katif.

The Israelis say only warning shots were fired and no-one was hurt.

The area between Khan Younis and Gush Katif in the southern Gaza Strip is a frequent flashpoint of violence.

Palestinian medics said Israeli soldiers at the settlement opened fire on the nearby three-storey building in Khan Younis.

The young girl’s cousin, Alaa, said he saw a bullet fly through the family’s kitchen window and ricochet off a wall before hitting her.

“Iman had returned from school and was going to the kitchen to ask her mother about lunch,” he said.

“While she was getting a plate, a bullet suddenly came through the window and she was shot in her head, with her blood spilling on the floor.”

Palestinian sources had said that the girl later died in hospital.

Bah.

Sharon defers Palestinian state

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said his plan for a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip may delay the creation of a Palestinian state.

In interviews with the Israeli media, Mr Sharon said: “In the unilateral plan, there is no Palestinian state”.

He confirmed that Israel would evacuate all of the 17 Jewish settlements in Gaza and gave more details about the unilateral disengagement plan.

During his three years in power, Mr Sharon has often preferred to speak in generalities to keep everybody guessing, but this time he is unusually specific, says the BBC’s James Reynolds in Jerusalem.

Other details of the plan included:
• no Palestinian control over any ports;
• Israeli control over a patrol road in the south of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt;
• handing over the homes of more than 7,000 settlers to an international organisation, not destroying them.
• Mr Sharon said the US administration wanted an indication of Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank as well as from Gaza – hence the planned removal of four small settlements in the north of the West Bank.

“In my opinion, it would be best to disconnect from all the territory,” Mr Sharon told Yediot Aharonot newspaper.

“In the unilateral plan, there is no Palestinian state. This situation could continue for many years,” Mr Sharon said.

The prime minister told Maariv that his plan “will bring their [the Palestinians'] dreams to an end”.

“When you fence areas and communities in the West Bank, you end a lot of their dreams,” Mr Sharon said, referring to the controversial security barrier Israel is building.

“My plan is tough on the Palestinians. A mortal blow.”

Mr Sharon has not said this in public before, our correspondent says, but it does confirm what most people in Israel have already guessed.

Bleh.