Peace talks to resume despite settler's death

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were due to resume today, despite the killing of a Jewish settler in the Gaza Strip that led Israel to reimpose tough restrictions on the movement of nearly a million Palestinians.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were due to resume today, despite the killing of a Jewish settler in the Gaza Strip that led Israel to reimpose tough restrictions on the movement of nearly one million Palestinians.

Top Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met last night to prepare for the negotiating session, according to Palestinian officials.

Jewish settlers went on a rampage in the southern Gaza Strip, destroying Palestinian property, after the body of farmer Roni Tsalah was found near his fields.

Israeli officials said he was shot by Palestinians, apparently with his own gun, and his car spirited to the nearby Palestinian city of Khan Yunis, where it was burned by a mob.

Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak denounced the killing, warning that it could harm peace efforts.

The Palestinians were already under fire from human rights groups for their public execution by firing squad on Saturday of two Palestinians convicted of helping Israeli forces kill local Palestinian leaders.

In an apparent attempt to deflect the criticism, Palestinian Justice Minister Freih

Abu Medein offered collaborators 45 days to turn themselves in without punishment, but Palestinian leaders defended the executions, saying they had to defend against Israeli assassination plots.

They say Israel has assassinated at least a dozen Palestinian leaders since the current unrest erupted 15 weeks ago.

The killing of the settler led to a rollback of Israeli steps to ease restrictions in Gaza that followed renewal of security co-ordination talks.

After Tsalah was reported missing, Israeli forces closed off the Gaza Strip, shutting crossing points into Israel and Egypt and blocking the main road, cutting the crowded territory into three isolated pieces, as they searched for the settler.

The killing and the Israeli response led to cancellation of peace talks and security consultations set for Monday, but the two sides decided to go ahead with peace negotiations on Tuesday.

Meeting secretly last night, Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia complained to Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami about the restrictions Israel imposed after the killing, the officials said. The purpose of the session was to prepare for today’s talks, they said.

They are working on a document that would sum up the progress made with the help of mediation by the administration of US president Bill Clinton, who leaves office on Saturday.

Officials on both sides have said there is not enough time to reach agreement on a peace treaty or even a declaration of principles for a permanent settlement.

Both sides accepted Clinton’s ideas in principle but added serious reservations. Barak said he would not give the Palestinians sovereignty over the disputed

Jerusalem site, where the Al Aqsa Mosque compound was built over the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temples.

The Palestinians were reluctant to compromise over their demand that all refugees and their descendants, about four million people, be given the right to return to their former homes in Israel, where five million Jews live.

Barak has indicated that in exchange for parts of the West Bank where main Jewish settlements are located, Israel would offer the Palestinians part of the Halutsa Sands, a desolate desert area next to the Gaza Strip.