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Killing of Israeli Woman Casts Shadow on Peres-Arafat Meeting
The 48-hour period of absolute quiet, a precondition set by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the Peres-Arafat meeting, was broken again as gunfire was echoing in the West Bank Monday morning.
An Israeli woman was shot dead and her husband sustained minor wounds in a Palestinian drive-by shooting attack earlier Monday morning, when the couple was driving near the town of Mekhola in the Jordan Valley, Israel radio reported.
Israeli security forces have reportedly set up roadblocks in the area and closed roads leading to the West Bank city of Nablus, in an attempt to capture the murderers.
The killing has undoubtedly cast shadow on the long-anticipated meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, which was again cancelled by Sharon on Sunday with the excuse of the Palestinian failure of committing to ceasefire.
However, Sharon, under huge pressure from Peres and the United States, would give the green light to the meeting if there was no violence on Monday, said an Israeli diplomat.
Peres is angry at Sharon's cancellation of his meeting with Arafat scheduled for Sunday at the Gaza International Airport, and announced that he is considering of taking a "vacation" as of Monday evening in protest.
Peres' supporters in the Israeli cabinet, mostly Labor Party ministers, warned Sunday that Peres would resign from the coalition government if he was not allowed to meet with Arafat within the next two days.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell phoned Sharon after learning his cancellation of the meeting, saying that the US wants a meeting soon between Peres and Arafat, as part of Washington's efforts to build up an international anti-terrorism coalition that includes the Arab world.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said Monday morning that the meeting would take place only after the Jewish day of fasting Yom Kippur later this month.
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