Israel goes ahead with settlement expansion
By Mark Lavie
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Despite hints the
Israeli government might compro
mise on the divisive settlement is
sue, Israel’s housing minister said
Tuesday that plans are going ahead
for hundreds of new homes in the
West Bank.
The development came amid new
violence, with three Jewish settlers,
including an American immigrant,
killed in drive-by shootings and two
Palestinians killed by Israeli fire. An
other Palestinian was killed when he
blew himself up at an Israeli check
point in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli and Palestinian security of
ficials were scheduled to meet for
the first time in two months at the
urging of the new Middle East en
voy, U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State William Burns. Israeli Defense
Minister Bmyamin Ben-Eliezer said
the talks would be held in two
rounds — with West Bank security
chiefs late Tuesday and their Gaza
Strip counterparts Wednesday.
Past meetings have failed to re
store the Israeli-Palestinian securi
ty cooperation that evaporated
when the current round of fighting
broke out eight months ago.
Israel says Yasser Arafat’s Pales
tinian Authority is directly in
volved in attacks and that by releas
ing militants from prison it bears
responsibility for suicide bombings
and other recent attacks.
The Palestinians blame Israel for
the violence and have expressed little
faith the talks can bear fruit unless
they also address political grievances.
Bums has been pressing the two
sides to begin implementing recom
mendations of an international
commission headed by former U.S.
Sen. George Mitchell, which calls
for an end to the violence followed
by confidence-building measures,
including a total freeze on settle
ment construction.
Israel says it accepts the report,
even though Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon has in the past objected to a
total settlement freeze, saying the
communities had to expand to ac
commodate “natural growth.”
On Tuesday, Israeli Housing Minis
ter Natan Sharansky told Israel Radio
he had approved construction bids for
496 new housing units in Maale Adu
mim, outside Jerusalem, and 217 units
in Alfei Menashe, near Tel Aviv.
The settlements are suburbs of
main cities and have few vacant
apartments, unlike smaller settle
ments in the interior of the West
Bank, where, according to Israeli
peace groups, there are thousands
of empty units.
Palestinians, who want to set up a
state in all of the West Bank and
Gaza, say the 144 settlements —
where 200,000 Israelis live — are il
legal and must be dismantled. The
United States has called them an ob
stacle to peace.
Meanwhile, violence threatened
to overshadow efforts to arrange a
cease-fire.
Two Palestinians were killed at
an Israeli outpost in the Gaza Strip,
including a suicide bomber with ex
plosives strapped to his body. The
other was shot and killed while
throwing a grenade. Two soldiers
were injured.
Also Tuesday, Israeli forces shot
and killed a Palestinian in a car near
Jericho and arrested another Pales
tinian, the Israeli military said.
Three Israeli settlers were killed
and four were wounded in two Pales
tinian ambushes in the West Bank.
In one attack, Palestinians in a
passing car opened fire on an Israeli
vehicle near the settlement of Neve
Daniel, south of Jerusalem, killing
two settlers and wounding three.
One of the dead was Sarah
Blaustein, 53, an immigrant from
the United States. Her husband,
Norman, 53, was slightly wounded,
and a son, Sammy, 27, was seriously
wounded with three bullets in his
back. The Blaustein family, from
Lawrence, N.Y., moved to the settle
ment of Efrat about a year ago, ac
cording to settlers.
Another Efrat resident, Esther Alva,
20, died several hours after the attack.
Earlier, Palestinians opened fire
on a car near Nablus, killing Gilead
Zar, 41, head of security for settle
ments in the northern West Bank.
Zar was badly wounded in a Pales
tinian shooting attack last year.
Ben-Eliezer said Arafat’s Fatah or
ganization claimed responsibility
for the shooting, which he called
“very regrettable.”
Hundreds joined a funeral pro
cession for Zar, which started in
front of Sharon’s office and wound
through the West Bank. At one
point, Palestinians opened fire on
the convoy, the military said. No
one was hurt.
Fires scorch forests, build fears of long, hot summer
By Martin Griffith
The Associated Press
SUSANVILLE, Calif. — A raging
4,100-acre forest fire forced evacua
tions of 60 homes and a hospital,
coating the town of Susanville with
dark soot and giving firefighters an
unwelcome taste of what could be
ahead this summer.
“This is the closest I’ve seen to a
fire in Susanville in my life,” said
Bob Garate, 45, a former firefighter
whose home was threatened by the
blaze. “I haven’t seen dry condi
tions like this since 1977. We’re in
for a long, hard summer. ”
The fire, which had burned to the
city limits and was within a quarter
mile of an RV park, was one of sev
eral burning Tuesday in the region.
Susanville, with a population of
17,500, is located about 80 miles
northwest of Reno, Nev.
Firefighters were battling a 6,500
acre wildland blaze near Pyramid
Lake, about 40 miles north of Reno.
And there was another forest fire about
250 miles southwest of Susanville in
the Mendocino National Forest.
In New Mexico, firefighters braced
for hot, dry, windy weather in their
battle against a blaze that has scorched
about 1,400 acres of the Guadalupe
Mountains in an unpopulated area of
the Lincoln National Forest.
The Susanville blaze started
about seven miles west of town
Sunday on private timberland after
being sparked by a man shooting
targets in the woods, said state Dept.
of Forestry spokeswoman Wendy
McIntosh. The man, whose name
was not released, was cited for caus
ing a fire and letting it escape.
“This is an August fire in May,
and you have to wonder where it’s
going to go from here. It could be a
long, expensive summer,” said fire
information officer Steve Harcourt.
Fire officials said the blaze was
about 35 percent contained. About
1,300 firefighters tried to slow the
flames’ advance using fire engines
and bulldozers to build a fire line.
Seven air tankers and a dozen heli
copters also were used.
Two firefighters were injured
while battling the blaze, including
one with a possible broken arm.
The fire skirted eight homes, com
ing as close as 30 feet to some of them.
About 140 residents were evacuated,
but were allowed to return to their
homes late Tuesday morning.
Lassen Community Hospital had
to evacuate 25 patients Monday
night when the fire burned with a
quarter mile of the facility, said Lau
ra Lang, executive assistant at the
59-bed hospital.
“We had quite a few embers
blowing this way and the smoke
was very thick. For health reasons,
and just to calm the patients, we
evacuated them,” Lang said.
McIntosh said two Susanville
area residents suffered minor in
juries, but no structures had been
damaged or destroyed.
Residents in the area are accus
tomed to fires, but this one was too
close for comfort, said Dan Merritt of
the Susanville Interagency Fire Cen
ter.
“It’s not uncommon for there to
be forest fires in the area, but this is
the closest it’s come to town in the
35 years since I’ve been here,” Mer
ritt said. “It’s also the earliest we’ve
had a major forest fire in those 35
years.”
Evacuees were asked to check in at
Lassen High School. By 10 p.m. Mon
day, 15 people had arrived at the
school to spend the night on cots.
Elementary, junior high and high
schools in Susanville were closed
Tuesday due to concerns about air
quality.
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