Israelis ‘Negotiate’ then Resume Killing

After the meeting: IDF kills Qureia's bodyguard.
PA reports special IDF unit killed bodyguard of chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Quriea only a few hours after a meeting with Olmert in Jerusalem
12.28.07, 01:04 / Israel News

According to Palestinian sources, early Friday morning, not long after Ahmed Qureia met with the Israeli negotiating team in Jerusalem, an IDF force killed one of his bodyguards.

Qureia, chief Palestinian negotiator, attended an Israeli-Palestinian summit Thursday in Jerusalem, in which Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also took part. Just hours later, PA sources reported IDF military activity in Bitunia, a town south of Ramallah. The IDF soldiers saw Mu'atasam Sharif al-Mahdi, a member of Fatah and the Presidential Guard, and opened fire on him, apparently because of his handgun.

The incident was the first in months in which a Fatah member was killed by IDF fire in the Ramallah area.

A Palestinian security official strongly condemned the killing, saying "Israel has proven once more that it does not want the security plan the Palestinian Authority is implementing in the West Bank to succeed. Israel does not want stability in the West Bank."