The Palestinian Authority president has accused Israel of
maintaining policies in Jerusalem that are tantamount to “an ethnic
cleansing campaign”.
Speaking to leaders from Muslim countries
gathered in Senegal, Mahmoud Abbas said Israel’s actions were
calculated to force Palestinians from the city.
“Our people in
Jerusalem are under an ethnic cleansing campaign,” he said. “They are
suffering from a series of decisions like tax hikes and construction
prohibitions.”
Abbas said Palestinians were “facing a campaign of annihilation” by the Israeli state.
At
the summit of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the
world’s largest Muslim organisation, Abbas appealed to leaders from
Muslim countries for support at a critical stage in the Middle East
peace process.
A draft declaration to be adopted by the leaders
“backs Palestine, and condemns Israel for what it is doing in Gaza”,
said Riad Malki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister.
In
Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack dismissed
President Abbas’s accusations as “an example of overheated political
rhetoric”, and urged the Israelis and Palestinians to “keep their focus
on the political process”.
The two sides today resumed high-level
talks with a US representative, Lieutenant General William Fraser, the
first to take place at senior level since talks were suspended at the
start of the month in protest at Israel’s recent invasion of the Gaza
Strip.
Israel has faced criticism from the US over the continued
construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank, which it has
described as “unhelpful” to the peace process. The Ha’aretz newspaper
quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying: “Real tension has
developed with the Americans, and if there are no steps on the ground
we will find ourselves in big trouble.”
Fraser will also have to
confront the recent escalation in violence between the sides, which has
strained the US-backed peace talks.
Yesterday, Islamic Jihad
launched a volley of rockets at southern Israel from Gaza, after
Israeli undercover forces killed four of its fighters in the West Bank.
Renewed conflict began at the end of last month as Israel’s blockade on Gaza entered its eighth month.
The
fighting intensified as Hamas launched long-range missiles at the
Israeli city of Ashkelon, provoking an invasion of Gaza by Israel in
which at least 107 people were killed.
Last Thursday, a Palestinian gunman opened fire in a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem, killing eight students.
Ehud
Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said the conflict would intensify
before calm was achieved. Referring to Israel’s raid in the West Bank,
Barak said it “proved once more that Israel will hunt down murderers
with Jewish blood on their hands”.
With George Bush due to visit the region in two months, international pressure for a political solution is likely to increase.