OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 22 July — A Palestinian group threatened
yesterday to attack the families of Israeli officials if Israel
expels relatives of militants to the Gaza Strip, while an Israeli
passenger train narrowly escaped yet another bomb attack. "We
warn the Israeli government against deporting martyrs’ families,
and if they do so the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades will retaliate by
striking the families of Israeli officials," said Al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades, a group linked to Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat’s Fatah movement, in a statement.
The threat came as Israel promised to give the kin of
Palestinian militants who have killed Israelis 12 hours notice of
their impending expulsion from the West Bank, giving them time to
lodge an appeal. The pledge came after the 21 relatives arrested
by the Israeli Army on Friday in the wake of anti-Israeli attacks
appealed to Israel’s Supreme Court.
Israel’s plan to expel the families, a new tactic in its
ongoing bid to deter further attacks, has run into international
condemnation, with its key ally Washington saying the transfers
would not guarantee Israel’s security. The Palestinian Authority
has said the move would amount to a "war crime."
Resistance groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have threatened a bloody
response if Israel goes ahead with the move, but the Al-Aqsa
statement was the first specific warning to the families of
officials.
Also yesterday, the Supreme Court delayed until tomorrow the
demolition of two more houses belonging to men accused of
attacking Israel, to give the attorney’s office time to justify
the destruction of the property. Underscoring the dilemma facing
Israel, whose monthlong invasion of the West Bank has failed to
quell attacks, a bomb exploded on a railroad track south of Tel
Aviv early yesterday, injuring the driver but failing to derail
the train. The remote-controlled blast was the fourth attack on a
train in Israel this year, although none have caused significant
damage or injury.
The fresh attack marred a cautiously upbeat mood after Israeli
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres renewed contact with Palestinian
ministers, broken after two grisly attacks on Israelis in the West
Bank and Tel Aviv last week. Peres said he was satisfied with the
meeting, but the head of the Palestinian team, Saeb Erekat, said
he was not getting his hopes up. "We should fight terrorism
mercilessly while being careful not to harm Palestinians who are
not linked to terrorism," Peres said, adding that more
meetings would follow soon.
Erekat said the talks were "serious and practical,"
but added that nothing had been agreed, except to hold another
session between the ministers this week. "I’m not raising
any expectations about the result," he said.
Meanwhile, a 25-day ordeal over humanitarian aid for
Palestinians ended yesterday when a charter flight carrying a
$500,000 shipment left South Africa bound for the embattled
Palestinian territories. South African Deputy Foreign Minister
Aziz Pahad used the occasion to call for Israel to leave
Palestinian territories, large parts of which Israel reoccupied a
month ago in a bid to stop bombings.
"There clearly is tragically a severe humanitarian crisis
in the occupied Palestinian territories unfolding as a result of
the Israeli policies of collective punishment of innocent
Palestinian civilians," Pahad told journalists in
Johannesburg.
Pahad said he was happy Israel had finally permitted the plane
to land. Authorities in Tel Aviv had said the plane was too noisy,
underinsured and the paperwork was incomplete, drawing charges
Israel was blocking the flight for political reasons.