PA: IDF killing of 2 Palestinians in West Bank aims to foil peace process
After 2 Palestinians killed in separate IDF raids, Abbas spokesman calls on world to help end "dangerous Israeli escalation."
By JPOST.COM STAFF, KHALED ABU TOAMEHJenin body carried to funeral(photo credit: Reuters)
The Palestinian Authority reacted Thursday to the IDF's killing of two Palestinians during West Bank arrest raids in the last 24 hours, accusing Israel of trying to sabotage peace talks.Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said that "dangerous Israeli escalation aims to foil the US and international efforst exerted to advance the peace process and aims to lead the negotiations to a dead end."Abu Rudeineh, in comments carried by official PA news agency WAFA, also requested the international community's assistance in dispelling IDF measures, which are "aimed to keep us locked in a circle of tensions and violence."Shortly after the PA released the statement, Abbas met in his office in Ramallah with US peace envoy Martin Indyk.The two discussed the latest developments surrounding the current peace talks between the PA and Israel.Earlier Thursday, the IDF killed a Palestinian gunman in Kalkilya, who was a member of the Palestinian security force.Security sources said the operation, in which a Paratroopers Reconnaissance Battalion entered the city, was aimed at seizing arms and carrying out security searches, stressing that Kalkilya has become the scene of regular live fire attacks on the IDF.Also adding fuel to the fire, on Wednesday evening, The IDF killed one Palestinian and wounded eight others after soldiers came under fire trying to make an arrest in the West Bank city of Jenin.Palestinians attacked the elite counterterorrism unit with improvised grenades and Molotov cocktails, according to military sources. The soldiers responded with live fire after assessing that their lives were in danger, the sources said.There were no injuries among members of the unit.
Subsequently, a second disturbance broke out in the area late Wednesday between Border Police and 100 Palestinians, according to security sources. The riot was quelled using nonlethal dispersal means.Yaakov Lappin and Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
