Israelis seal off Gaza Strip, kill 3 Palestinians
Jewish state flexes muscles as US mission winds up without visible progress

Compiled by Daily Star staff
Israel sealed the Gaza Strip on Monday, imposing the most sweeping restrictions in years, and killed three Palestinians in clashes there, as US Secretary of State Colin Powell wound up a Middle East mission.
Powell asked the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers to take action on the “road map” peace plan; Palestinians are expected to rein in militants, and Israel is to ease restrictions that have caused much hardship in the Palestinian areas.
However, the visit to Israel and the Occupied Territories ended without visible results.
Palestinian leaders expressed disappointment that Powell failed to prod Israel to accept the three-stage, three-year plan. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has expressed major reservations and was to air them in a meeting next week with US President George W. Bush.
Before leaving for Washington, Sharon was to meet with his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, in what would be the highest-level Israeli-Palestinian talks in nearly three years.
Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr said arrangements for the meeting were still being finalized, while Israeli television said it could take place Friday.
“We want this meeting to end with tangible political results,” he said.
On Sunday, as Powell met separately with Sharon and Abbas, Israel lifted a closure on the West Bank and Gaza, allowing several thousand Palestinians to return to jobs in Israel, while continuing to enforce travel restrictions between towns.
However, the military reimposed the closure on Gaza early Monday, citing unspecified security considerations. It barred Palestinians and all foreigners, with the exception of diplomats, from leaving and entering the coastal strip.
The open-ended travel ban marked the first time in years that foreign nationals, including journalists, were being kept out of Gaza for an extended period.
The local Foreign Press Association issued a statement demanding the ban be lifted.
“The fact that the restrictions that have been suddenly imposed are open-ended and that no allowance whatsoever has been made for journalists’ entry and exit is extremely disturbing and suggests an utter disregard for basic press freedoms,” the FPA statement read.
A United Nations agency which assists hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees said the blockade was seriously disrupting its Gaza operations.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Paul McCann, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency. “This morning, we couldn’t even get our diplomatic pouch out.”
The restrictions were imposed three days after the military announced that foreigners must sign security waivers as they enter Gaza and promise to stay away from “combat areas.” Human rights groups have accused the army of trying to prevent monitoring of Israeli military actions against Palestinians.
The new rules were announced after two Britons traveled from Gaza to Tel Aviv, where one blew himself up at a pub on April 30, killing three Israelis. His accomplice remains at large.
In tightening restrictions, the military also referred specifically to keeping out members of the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian group that has sent foreign volunteers to trouble spots to serve as buffers between troops and Palestinian civilians.
At the same time, Israel released 71 Palestinians from army and civilian prisons on Monday, bringing the two-day total to 140. Israeli officials said the release was a goodwill gesture, but they admitted most or all of the prisoners were to be released soon and were arrested for working in Israel illegally, not for involvement in attacks.
Palestinians, stressing that Israel is holding about 5,000 prisoners, said the release was just an attempt to impress Powell.
“There is no reason to make a big deal over this,” said Hanna Nitzan, spokeswoman for the Israeli prisons service.
Separately, four Palestinians escaped from the Israeli detention camp of Ofer near Ramallah Monday before dawn, security sources on both sides said.
Three of the prisoners on the run are from Islamic Jihad while the fourth was from Fatah, an Islamic Jihad source said.
“The four men managed to escape and are in a secure place,” the source told AFP in Jenin.
In a pre-dawn incursion Monday, Israeli troops backed by tanks and helicopters raided the Gaza town of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, demolishing five buildings they said housed entrances to tunnels used for smuggling in arms.
In an ensuing firefight, soldiers shot dead two Palestinian gunmen, Palestinian security
sources said. The army withdrew after almost two hours. The army said the two men were killed as they planted bombs near Israeli troops.
In nearby Khan Younis, troops shot dead a Palestinian farm worker as he tilled a field near an Israeli Army lookout post, witnesses said. The military had no comment.
Powell told Sharon on Sunday that Israel must ease restrictions that have caused severe hardships for Palestinians through 31 months of fighting. He also called on Abbas to crack down on militant groups responsible for attacks on Israel.
In the first sign that a thaw might be developing, Israel and the Palestinians have resumed security contacts. Israel Radio said Israeli Major General Amos Gilad met over the weekend with Mohammed Dahlan, minister in charge of security in the Palestinian Cabinet.
Such contacts were a key element of interim peace accords but were suspended because of the violence.
The Palestinians, meanwhile, said they had expected more from the Powell visit.
“Mr. Powell came without a positive Israeli response (to the road map) … and that is very unfortunate,” said Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat.
Sharon told Powell that he was opposed to a key element of the first stage of the road map, which is a complete freeze of settlement construction in the West Bank and Gaza, the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported.
In a news conference after his meeting with Sharon, Powell indicated that there would be more discussions with Sharon on a settlement freeze.