Palestinians vow to fight on against Israel

PALESTINIANS marked the third anniversary of their uprising for statehood yesterday by vowing to fight on against Israel until they achieve victory.

Several thousand Palestinians shouted their defiance at a rally in the West Bank city of Nablus, one of few gatherings marking the anniversary of the start of a conflict which shows no sign of ending.

"We come here to show our determination to continue the Intifada (uprising) until we achieve freedom," Nablus Governor Mahmoud Aloul told the cheering crowd.

One group of Palestinians held a banner declaring: "As long as there is a single soldier or a Jewish settler pulling the trigger, we have to hit back the same way. If they pull the trigger with one finger, we should use 10 fingers."

Several thousand people marched in the Gaza Strip in the past three days pledging to fight on, but otherwise there has been little celebrating after bloodshed that has killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and more than 800 Israelis.

Peace prospects are slim, with an international peace road map bogged down and each side saying the other should take the first steps to implement it. "We want peace but it's hard to believe in it. The time has passed when it was possible to do something. Hitting them won't help now they'll just attack again," said taxi driver Yuri Abayev, 42.

Palestinian civil servant Bassam Zakarneh, 36 said: "At the end of the day, we are people under occupation that should be resisted. We may differ on the means of resistance but it should be resisted."

Senior representatives of the Quartet of major powers trying to the end the bloodshed the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations appealed to both sides on Friday to take steps to implement the road map.

But shortly after they issued their appeal, a Palestinian shot dead an Israeli man and a baby at a Jewish settlement in the West Bank before he was shot dead himself.

In a step that could ease political turmoil holding up the road map to peace, leaders of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement approved Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qurie's cabinet over the weekend.

Israel has not commented on the cabinet. It has said it would not work with any government controlled by Arafat.