Palestinian militants

More progress with the "Road Map" to peace?



Mahmoud Abbas, the newly-elected Palestinian President, and Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, could hold a summit meeting within weeks after high-level diplomatic contacts resumed for the first time in two years.

In a flurry of meetings and telephone contacts, senior officials from both countries reportedly finalised agreement on the deployment of thousands of Palestinian security forces to curb attacks on Jewish settlements from southern Gaza.

In return, Israel agreed to curtail the "targeted killings" of Palestinian militants in Gaza - which the Palestinians say is crucial if Mr Abbas is to persuade militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas to respect a ceasefire so that negotiations can start on a comprehensive political settlement.



I suppose Israel really should cease their "targeted killings" of Palestinian "militants," a.k.a barbarous murders. If the Palestinians want to kill innocent Israelis, they should be able to without impunity. Does the Times think the "targeted killings" are not all that targeted, or justified? Apparently not, for later in the article they refer to "almost 5,000 people [who] have been killed in violence, including almost 4,000 Palestinians. The latest victim was a three-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead in the Gaza Strip by Israel troops this morning - Israeli military sources said the soldiers had been returning fire after a mortar or rocket attack on their position." They would have to have an excellent research department to find cases of Israeli fire killing innocent Palestinians. The instance they allude to above must prove that Israeli retaliation is merely unjustified "killings." Such propaganda.



Update: The Times is cheesecake compared to the slander Aljazeera is publishing:



Israeli occupation forces shot dead on Wednesday a three-year-old girl inside in her house in Gaza, witnesses and medical sources said.

Witnesses said that Rahma Ibrahim Abu Shamas was inside her house in Deir al Balah in Gaza when the Israeli gunfire struck her in the head, killing her instantly. The Israeli military admitted the killing, saying it was investigating the "incident."

A spokesman for the Israeli military justified the girl’s killing, saying that soldiers thought that Palestinian resistance fighters were somewhere in the neighborhood.

However, the Israeli-state run radio, Cal Yisrael, asserted that no Palestinians fighters were present in the area at the time of the shooting.

PA security officials in the Gaza Strip strongly denounced the killing, a "another hideous crime."

"Imagine that a Jewish child was killed…and how Israel would react…they are killing our children in cold blood as they are vociferously reminding the world of the so-called holocaust," said Abu Muammar, a Palestinian security official in Deir al Balah.



This report is absolutely sickening. Where are the reports on the number of Israeli children that have been killed? I suspect the number is far greater than the 650 Palestinian children Aljazera is reporting. Mind you, both numbers are upsetting, but it would be nice to see some balance.