Region | Palestinian Territories
'Difficult Israel' boosts Palestinians resolve on their right of return
The Palestinian prime minister says peace talks with Israel are facing problems and that this gives his people more reason to cling to the idea of an independent state.
- AP
- Published: 00:43 May 9, 2008
Ramallah/Gaza City: The Palestinian prime minister says peace talks with Israel are facing problems and that this gives his people more reason to cling to the idea of an independent state.
Salam Fayyad spoke during a visit on Thursday to a tent camp set up to mark the Palestinian "nakba," or catastrophe.
It mirrors Israel's independence day celebrations. The nakba commemorates the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 war over Israel's creation.
Today, the fate of some 4.5 million refugees and their descendants is a key issue in peace talks. Fayyad says the talks are facing difficulties.
He says this motivates the Palestinians to cling to the dream of independence and "the right of return of refugees."
Clashes
Palestinian medics say they found the body of a Palestinian woman in an area of heavy Israeli-Palestinian fighting along Gaza's border with Israel.
The woman was discovered late Wednesday in her home in the Abassan village in southern Gaza. Palestinian health officials say she was 35-years-old and had seven children. Earlier Wednesday, Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen clashed in Abassan.
Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a series of targets. One struck Palestinians who were using abandoned houses as cover.
A militant was killed and 14 people were wounded in the clashes. The woman's body was discovered hours later, after Israeli forces withdrew.
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