Top Palestinian official hopeful of truce
'Suicide bombings will stop if Israeli operations end'
AP, Jerusalem
Palestinian militant groups are willing to halt suicide bombings and other attacks if Israel promises to stop carrying out military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a top Palestinian official said holding out hope for a truce agreement. However, Israel has refused to say whether it would agree to such cease-fire terms, while a top Islamic militant leader has ruled out an immediate end to attacks on Israelis. Early Sunday, Israeli troops killed two Palestinians during an operation to arrest a known arms smuggler in a Gaza refugee camp, Palestinian hospital officials and the Israeli military said. During the fighting, two Apache helicopter gunships fired heavy machine-guns and Hassan Abu Khatleh, 55, was killed by a bullet wound to the chest, hospital officials said. At the end of the operation, the forces demolished Abu Libdeh's house. There were reports that Abu Libdeh was arrested. The army said Abu Libdeh fled the house along with two other men, one of them armed. Troops chased after the three fugitives, and killed one. Abu Libdeh was wounded in his hand and taken for treatment in an Israeli hospital, the army said. The third man was arrested, it added. Bringing about a truce between Israel and the Palestinians is seen as a key step in efforts to revitalise the US-backed "road map" peace plan that has stalled amid violence and Palestinian political crises. On Saturday, Israeli soldiers fired at a group of youths throwing stones in the West Bank, killing a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, according to Palestinian medical sources. An agreement could help strengthen new Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia after an earlier cease-fire, secured by his predecessor, collapsed over the summer. Qureia and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have been preparing for a possible summit in the coming days to discuss peace moves. In advance of such a meeting, Qureia has been working to persuade militant factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to again agree to end attacks, and an Egyptian mediator was to arrive in the region Monday to assist him. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said militant factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, were supportive of the idea of an open-ended cease-fire, but were looking for assurances Israel would also observe the truce.
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