Saturday, March 16, 2002

Israeli-Palestinian violence is down sharply. The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian taxi driver in Hebron, where Palestinian residents are under curfew; kills 3 Palestinians in Gaza. A Jewish settler shoots, wounds a Palestinian girl in Hebron. The IDF directs heavy machine gun fire on Palestinian residential areas of Hebron; conducts arrest raids nr. Jenin. In Nablus, Palestinians kill 2 collaborators. (WT 3/17; LAW 3/20)

In Barcelona, EU FMs adopt a declaration calling for a "viable and independent" Palestine living in peaceful coexistence with an Israeli state, strongly condemning Israel's excessive use of force, stating that the PA "bears the full responsibility for fighting terrorism," supporting the Saudi initiative. (MM 3/18; MEI 3/22)