Jordan and Egypt Condemn Gaza Offensive
AP 2004/10/2
Amman
Jordan and Egypt condemned today Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip and urged the international community to intercede to put an end to Palestinian-Israeli violence.
At least 44 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed in four days of violence, which followed a rocket attack by the Hamas militant group on an Israeli town near Gaza on Wednesday that killed two Israeli preschoolers.
Israel has launched an open-ended offensive dubbed "Days of Penitence" aimed at stopping Palestinian militants firing rockets at Israeli towns close to the volatile Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip.
Today, Israeli troops killed seven Palestinian gunmen, including four who cut through Gaza's border fence, as the military expanded its offensive, one of the largest in four years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
Jordanian government spokeswoman Asma Khader condemned the "massacres" carried out by Israeli forces in Gaza and called for an immediate end to the violence.
Khader told the state-run Petra news agency that the offensive underlined Israeli policies to "carry out more killing and assassinations and destroying property of Palestinian citizens and the infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority."
"Jordan condemns the ugly crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza," Khader said, adding that the fighting "will only lead to more violence and instability in the region."
Khader called for international intervention to end the Israeli offensive and urged the so called Quartet, comprising the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia, to return the Israelis and Palestinians to the "road map" plan for Middle East peace.
The internationally-backed plan envisions an end to Palestinian-Israeli violence and the creation of an independent Palestinian state by next year.
In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit denounced "the new wave of violence" and called on Israel to stop "arrogance and its chaotic use of force."
In a statement, Aboul Gheit said that if Israel continues "its aggravation of the Palestinians, the vicious circle of violence and counter violence will go on and on."
Arab League Secretary-General Amro Moussa told reporters in Egypt that Israel's "crimes" in Gaza will "lead the region to more bloodshed and instability" and not force the Palestinians and Arabs "to accept a settlement based on the Israeli vision."
In Saudi Arabia, the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council issued a statement describing Israel's offensive as "organized state terrorism," and urged the international community to interfere to stop "the continuous bloody series of aggression practiced by the Israeli government using its brutal and destructive weaponry."
Thousands of Israeli soldiers, backed by tanks and helicopters, have been targeting northern Gaza, including the Jabalia refugee camp, which is Palestinians' largest and most densely populated.
In four years of conflict, Israeli troops had never before struck deep inside the camp, the birthplace of the first Palestinian uprising in 1987, for fear of getting bogged down in urban combat.
Despite the fighting, Israel's government is said to be still pushing forward with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw Israeli settlements and forces from Gaza next year as part of a wider program to unilaterally separate Israelis and Palestinians.
Sharon's opponents, including critics within his own party, warn that the withdrawal will encourage further militant attacks.
At the United Nations, Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres said Friday that the government's timetable for the Gaza withdrawal remains unchanged. He said Sharon told him that the withdrawal would proceed as planned.
In Washington, the State Department called on Israel to temper its military response to the rocket attack.
But Palestinian officials voiced outrage.
"The Israeli government is continuing to escalate, it is continuing to wreak havoc, it is continuing to destroy all opportunities for peace," said Nabil Abu Rdeineh, a senior aide to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
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