Circle of Mideast killings, blame relentless

JERUSALEM - Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli teenager in a drive-by shooting north of Jerusalem, Israeli police say, further blackening prospects for a move towards eventual peace talks.

More than 600 people have been killed since the start of a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, including nearly 500 Palestinians and more than 100 Israelis.

Palestinian gunmen have targeted Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza in their revolt for a state on those lands and have killed close to 40 settlers. Jewish settlements on occupied land are considered illegal by international law.

Israeli cabinet minister Danny Naveh laid blame for such attacks on Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, saying "they have no interest in stopping terror".

Ten would-be Palestinian suicide bombers in white robes and masks yesterday took ghostly pride of place at the funeral of Salah Darwaza, identified in leaflets before the funeral as a Hamas "brigadier".

A day earlier, four Israeli missiles slammed into his car and turned it into a twisted mass of charred metal. The Israeli Army said Darwaza had helped plan a series of bombings in Israel and was responsible for the death of at least eight people and wounding more than 100 others.

Palestinians say Israel has assassinated more than 40 activists since their uprising began 10 months ago.

Meanwhile, Israel is preparing a counter-offensive to what it views as a politicised international legal battle against its officials, primarily Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

He faces a lawsuit filed in Brussels over alleged crimes against humanity in a 1982 massacre of Palestinians by an Israeli-allied Lebanese militia.

A Belgian examining judge began an investigation this month after finding merit in two complaints filed by Lebanese and Palestinian survivors of the killing of hundreds of people at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, when Sharon was defence minister.

He said yesterday that the lawsuit "is not my personal issue. Israel is facing a problem, an attempt to attack both Israel and the Jewish people, so steps are being taken to stop the danger and we will stop it".

- REUTERS

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