Israeli Approves Prisoner Swap with Hizbollah
The German-mediated deal involves trading some 400 jailed Palestinians and Lebanese for a kidnapped Israeli spy and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers captured in 2000. It has been severely criticised by some over its exclusion of long-missing Israeli airman Ron Arad, who parachuted over Lebanon in 1986.
The exchange is expected to include Mustapha Dirani, a Lebanese guerrilla leader held by Israel as a bargaining chip for Arad since the early 1990s.
Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says he will reject the deal unless all the Lebanese prisoners are set free, but the Israeli cabinet reportedly ruled out releasing people convicted of killing Israelis.
Qorei Announces New Cabinet Deal
A fresh deal for a new Palestinian government has immediately been rejected by the Israeli government as "a non-starter" for reviving the peace process.
Announcing the deal, Palestinian premier Ahmad Qorei said his candidate for interior minister, pro-reform general Nasser Yousef, would not hold a cabinet post. The job, overseeing the police, civil defence and preventive security services, has gone to Hakam Balawi, a loyalist of Palestinian president Yasser Arafat.
Arafat is to chair a council comprising the five other Palestinian security services. Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli premier Ariel Sharon, has said that Arafat’s role will pose a problem:
"Like any other Palestinian government, this government will be tested and judged by the tested performance. In other words, they have to complete and accomplish the obligation they have taken upon themselves with regard to the road map to peace and this is to dismantle the ‘terrorist’ organisations."
Ahmed Qorei will seek parliamentary approval for the cabinet on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Palestinians have staged various demonstrations against Israel’s so-called "security fence".
Last month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution saying the barrier broke international law.
An Israeli human rights group says over 200,000 Palestinians are affected by the fence, mostly where it denies them access to hospitals and other services.
