Sharon warns against Hamas participation
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-07 11:41

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that Israel would not ease restrictions before Palestinian parliamentary elections in January as long as Hamas, a militant group that has killed hundreds of Israelis, is allowed to participate.

The threat, if carried out, could make it nearly impossible for Palestinians to conduct the poll, and Palestinian officials strongly condemned Sharon's statement as meddling in their internal affairs.

The Palestinians say Israeli roadblocks throughout the West Bank must be lifted ahead of the Jan. 25 election so candidates can campaign freely and voters can travel to rallies and the polls.

Israel has hinted it might not ease the travel restrictions before the vote if Hamas participates, but it appeared to have dropped that demand after President Bush declined to mention it in a public appearance last month with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Bush, however, warned Abbas that violent Palestinian groups could undermine the nascent Palestinian democracy.

On Sunday, Sharon repeated his long-standing demand that Abbas disarm all Palestinian militant groups.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, center, speaks flanked by Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and cabinet secretary Israel Maimon as he opens the weekly cabinet meeting at his Jerusalem office, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005. [AP]

Abbas has repeatedly refused to disarm the popular militant group, saying that such a confrontation could lead to civil war. Instead, he has brokered a shaky truce agreement with militants not to attack Israel and has worked to bring them into Palestinian political life by having them field parliamentary candidates.

Hamas, which opposes the existence of the Jewish state, has carried out dozens of suicide bombing attacks against Israelis during the past five years. Palestinian officials hope Hamas' involvement in politics will moderate the group.

The Islamic group participated in three rounds of local elections, but the vote in January would be the first time Hamas would participate in a parliamentary vote.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called Sharon's threat "a very, very dangerous development."

"Undermining and sabotaging this election for any reason would push Palestinians and Israelis even deeper into the vicious cycle of violence and counterviolence," he said.

In remarks to reporters Sunday night, Sharon reiterated his insistence that the Palestinians stop attacks against Israelis before new peace efforts can be initiated.

"In my opinion, the Palestinians today have a rare opportunity to make progress with the (peace) process ... but there is one area where I will not make any concessions and that is the issue of security," he said.

Also Sunday, Israeli security officials said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz hoped to reopen the Rafah border crossing — the Gaza Strip's main gateway to the outside world — within two weeks, a move that would be crucial to reviving Gaza's impoverished economy.

Israel closed the crossing, located along the Egyptian border, shortly before it withdrew from Gaza in September, saying it would stay shut for six months to allow for new security and customs arrangements. But Palestinians and international mediators have pressured Israel to open it quickly.

Officials said the Israeli army has decided to disband a special unit of older volunteer reservists who worked at West Bank checkpoints to ease tensions between soldiers and Palestinians.

The unit, formed more than three years ago at the height of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, won widespread praise in Israel. By manning checkpoints, the volunteers eased the workload for young soldiers handling one of the most difficult assignments in the army.

A military official in Israel's Central Command said the unit would be disbanded Jan. 1 because of the program's cost — about $1.5 million annually.

Also Sunday, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli troops while playing with a toy gun was buried in the West Bank town of Jenin. His family donated his organs for transplant, and his heart, liver and lungs were transplanted into the bodies of three Israeli children.

The boy's father, Ismail Khatib, said he decided to donate the organs of his son, Ahmed, because his own brother died at 24 awaiting a liver transplant.

"I don't mind seeing the organs of my son in the body of an Israeli, or of a Palestinian," Khatib said. "The most important thing is that I see the person who received the organs, to see him alive."