VARIOUS: ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS RESUME NEGOTIATIONS ON IMPEMENTING AN ISRAELI TROOP REDEPLOYMENT IN HEBRON/JEWISH SETTLERS FENCE OFF ARAB-OWNED HILLTOP

Record ID: 399917

  • Title: VARIOUS: ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS RESUME NEGOTIATIONS ON IMPEMENTING AN ISRAELI TROOP REDEPLOYMENT IN HEBRON/JEWISH SETTLERS FENCE OFF ARAB-OWNED HILLTOP
  • Date: 16th October 1996
  • Summary: TABA, EGYPT/NEAR HEBRON, WEST BANK/GAZA CITY, GAZA (OCTOBER 16-17, 1996)(RTV ACCESS ALL) TABA (OCTOBER 16, 1996) 1. HAS EXT OF HILTON HOTEL IN TABA (2 SHOTS) 0.13 2. SV ISRAELI DELEGATION HEADED BY DAN SHOMRON, DORI GOLD AND OREN SAHUOR, ARRIVE FOR MEETING 0.21 3. SV PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR SAEB EREKAT ARRIVES FOR THE
  • Embargoed: 31st October 1996 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TABA, EGYPT/NEAR HEBRON, WEST BANK/GAZA CITY, GAZA
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA5QL6YAUFIQHA457X4OHPJ4VWE
  • Story Text: INTRO: Negotiators for Israel and the Palestinians continued talks to resolve the dispute over Hebron, while Jewish settlers in the town attempted to extend their hold by fencing off an Arab-owned hillside.

    Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met on Wednesday and again on Thursday (October 17) in Egypt to agree an accord on implementing the deployment of Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Hebron.

    An Israeli delegation headed by Dan Shomron and a Palestinian team headed by Saeb Erekat met at the Taba Hilton hotel for initial talks on Wednesday under the guidance of United States mediator Dennis Ross.

    All parties said the discussions began in a businesslike manner and in a good atmosphere.

    The deployment was scheduled to begin in March according to peace agreements between the Israelis and Palestinians, but new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu froze the accord on his election, saying the 400 or so Jewish settlers in Hebron needed further protection.

    The Hebron issue was the main sticking point during last month's unsuccessful peace summit between Netanyahu and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Washington, D.C. The Palestinians accuse Israel of trying to renegotiate signed peace agreements by failing to implement the deployment.

    Near Hebron on Thursday Jewish settlers made moves to expand their hold on the town. They began fencing off an Arab-owned hilltop near Hebron in a move that Palestinians said would fuel tension, witnesses said.

    They said about 30 settlers, mostly teenage students from Kiryat Arba settlement, hammered spikes around the sparsely planted hill top near Kiryat Arba settlement and began extending barbed wire around it.

    The Jewish settlers briefly exchanged heated arguments with the Palestinian landowners before Israeli soldiers separated the two sides and ordered the settlers to stop.

    On Thursday morning Ross made a brief visit to Gaza City to have discussions with Arafat before returning to Taba for fresh talks.


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