Israel returns bodies of 15 militants

The Israeli military was delivering the bodies of 15 militants to the Palestinians for burial today, a day after Israel’s cabinet approved the names of 500 prisoners to be released and security commanders prepared for the handover of a West Bank town to Palestinian control.

The latest goodwill gesture, part of a package agreed at last week’s Mideast summit, came as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told The New York Times the war with Israel is effectively over and that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is speaking “a different language” to the Palestinians.

In Israel, meanwhile, the political climate was growing increasingly divisive over Sharon’s plan to pull out of Gaza and four West Bank settlements this summer.

Israeli President Moshe Katsav said today he favours detaining some Jewish extremists without trial or charges, in so-called administrative detention.

Katsav spoke in response to a wave of threats against government ministers who support the Gaza withdrawal.

The bodies of the 15 Palestinian militants were to be driven from Israel’s forensics institute to the Erez crossing into Gaza today.

The militants had been killed in attacks against Israel in the past two years, including bombing-and-shooting attacks on Israeli army outposts in Gaza.

It was not clear why Israel had kept the bodies of these particular attackers. In some cases, the military returns bodies of militants immediately. Islam, like Judaism, requires speedy burial.

Late yesterday, senior Israeli and Palestinian commanders met to co-ordinate the handover of Jericho, the first of five West Bank towns to be turned over to Palestinian control in coming weeks.

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat, who lives in Jericho, said he expects the Israeli army roadblocks surrounding the desert oasis to be removed tomorrow or Wednesday. Erekat said the two sides might even resume joint security patrols.

After the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in 2000, the military had barred Israeli civilians from entering West Bank towns. Erekat said that in meetings later today, he would ask Israeli officials to lift the ban, at least for Jericho, which depends on tourism.

He said he did not know when the Oasis Casino in Jericho, once the main employer in town and a major attraction for Israeli gamblers, would reopen. The casino was closed in 2000, a month after fighting began.

Erekat is due to meet with Sharon aide Dov Weisglass today to discuss the release of additional Palestinian prisoners.

Yesterday, Israel’s cabinet approved the list of names of 500 prisoners to be freed in coming days, with another 400 to be released in the next three months.

Israel holds about 8,000 Palestinians. The Palestinians want larger numbers of prisoners to be released, particularly those serving long terms for involvement in attacks on Israelis.

Sharon said over the weekend he would consider making exceptions to Israel’s ban on freeing those involved in killing Israelis.

Abbas said that “prisoners, prisoners are our priority, and we told everyone about it”. He said a generous release of prisoners would help stabilise the volatile situation.

Abbas also spoke of a new beginning in the region, saying he had persuaded the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad to respect a truce.

Last week, Hamas had fired dozens of mortar shells at Jewish settlements, saying it was responding to alleged Israeli ceasefire violations.

Abbas has since met with leaders of the militant groups, and calm appeared to have been restored.

“Today our comrades in Hamas and Jihad said they are committed to the truce, the cooling down of the whole situation, and I believe we will start a new era,” Abbas said.

Israeli law enforcement officials, meanwhile, said they were increasingly concerned about possible violence by Jewish extremists who say they will do everything they can to stop a withdrawal from Gaza.

In 1995, an extremist opponent of peace concessions assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

In recent days, several cabinet ministers received abusive letters from extremists. One of the recipients, Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, was quoted as warning the cabinet: “I am telling you: They will try to kill the prime minister.”

Sharon instructed law enforcement agencies to report back to the Cabinet with steps to “rein in the violent rampage” of extremists who oppose his pullout plan, a statement said. “I am shocked by this savagery. We need to take immediate practical steps,” Sharon was quoted as saying.

Some of the extremists are working openly, tracking cabinet ministers. In recent days, one minister was accosted at a funeral, another at a wedding.