Haniyya condemns talks as ‘political deception’
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Monday, April 23, 2007
Israeli troops killed two Palestinian militants and a teenager in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, bringing to nine the death toll from the bloodiest weekend of violence in months.
Responding to the deaths, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya of Hamas called on Arab countries to drop any notion of negotiating peace with Israel.
“I urge them to stop any political initiative that would lead to creating a state of normalization with the Israeli occupation,” he told Reuters.
Haniyya added during the interview in Gaza City that Israel’s killings “reveal the political deception which is being practiced on the Palestinian people through the political meetings and the meetings of leaders” with Israelis.
Karim Zahran, 17, was shot dead while throwing stones at Israeli troops near the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian security sources and medics said.