Israeli Army Slammed for Ramallah Raid

Israeli army slammed for Ramallah raid

JERUSALEM, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) — Israeli lawmakers on Friday lashed out at an incursion into the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, which apparently overshadowed a summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to restart Mideast peace process.

Israeli troops stormed Ramallah on Thursday afternoon in a bid to arrest the alleged “wanted men,” setting off protests and clashes in the center of the town, during which at least six Palestinians were killed and some 30 others wounded.

According to the local daily The Jerusalem Post, Officer Commanding Central Command Maj.-Gen. Ya’ir Naveh was harshly condemned for carrying out the operation without informing Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

Labor Party lawmaker Danny Yatom slammed Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for the timing of such an operation as Olmert and Mubarak met in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on ways to restart the peace process on the same day.

“I don’t think this operation should have been carried out on the day of a visit by the Israeli prime minister to a country in which we have a supreme strategic interest,” Ben-Eliezer told Army radio.

“Our relations with Egypt are more important to us than anything else,” the minister added.

Meanwhile, infrastructure Minister and former defense minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer expressed similar sentiments.

Following the Israeli raid, Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas also condemned the arrest operation on Thursday, saying that it “proved that the Israeli calls for peace and security are fake.”

In the wake of the Israeli move, Mubarak, whose country has long played a mediating role between Israel and the Palestinians, expressed Egypt’s condemnation and rejection against Israel’s military operation in Ramallah.

Calling for an immediate end to violence and refraining from practices which hinder peace efforts, Mubarak underlined, “The security of Israel and the region could only be achieved through just peace.”

Olmert, for his part, said that he regretted if the operation caused any innocent Palestinian civilian casualties. But Olmert defended the raid, saying that Israel was obligated to take actions to protect the Israelis from “terrorists.”

(c) 2007 Xinhua News Agency – CEIS. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.