Palestinian leaders denounce civilian killings
White House source says Powell will meet with Arafat
April 13, 2002 Posted: 1:05 PM EDT (1705 GMT)

Israeli troops gather on the outskirts of Jenin on Friday 
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian Authority leaders issued a statement Saturday condemning the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians, raising the possibility that a postponed meeting between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell would be re-scheduled. 

A senior administration official told CNN an announcement will be made shortly that Powell intends to go ahead with the Arafat meeting. 

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said it was his understanding that the meeting would take place on Sunday at 11 a.m. local time. 

"This is our commitment to peace, to condemn acts of violence," Erakat said. "This vicious cycle must really stop. There never will be a military solution to this problem." Erakat said the statement was issued by both Arafat and the Palestinian Authority leadership . 

The statement was issued in Arabic to reporters in Ramallah, West Bank. Israel and the United States have been demanding an Arabic statement from Arafat renouncing terrorist acts as a starting point toward talks aimed at a cease-fire. 

"We strongly condemn violent operations that target Israeli civilians, especially the last operation in Jerusalem," the statement said. "We also strongly condemn the massacre and the killing Israel occupation forces have, and are still, committing against Palestinian civilians and refugees in the city of Nablus and the Jenin refugee camp and the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and other Palestinian territories over the past two weeks." 

The statement came after Arafat met with the Palestinian negotiating team at his headquarters in Ramallah, where Israeli troops have detained him for two weeks. 

The statement also came a day after a female Palestinian suicide bomber killed six Israelis, prompting Powell to put Saturday's meeting with Arafat on hold. 

A senior U.S. official said the Bush administration is examining the statement "We are looking carefully at what he said," the senior administration official told CNN. 

Danny Ayalon, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, dismissed the Palestinian condemnation saying, "I would say that we are witnessing the continued pattern of committing Palestinian terror and then sending some obscure press releases afterwards. Palestinian words are meaningless without concrete action to stop terrorism." 

Powell, who met with Sharon on Friday, is trying to bring about a political settlement to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sharon and Powell failed to agree on when Israel should end its West Bank military operations that have included sealing off Palestinian towns in an attempt to destroy what it calls "the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure." 

The Palestinians have said more than 500 died in the operation; the Israelis have said that "hundreds" were killed or wounded. 

Latest developments
The Israeli Supreme Court said Saturday it will hear arguments on the burial of Palestinian fighters and civilians in the Jenin refugee camp Sunday. The court issued an injunction Friday night blocking burials after two Israeli Arab Knesset members and two human rights groups filed a petition. In filings before the court, the Israeli attorney general's office said no bodies had been buried and none would be until Sunday. 
 

Israeli forces and tanks on Saturday moved into the West Bank villages of Burqeen and Arabeh on the outskirts of Jenin, the scene of some of the fiercest fighting. Curfews were imposed in both areas, sources inside the villages said. The Israeli military had no comment on either incursion. 
 

Israeli troops entered the home of Palestinian Health Minister Hassan Asfour Sunday afternoon and began searching it, said Palestinians who were nearby. They said they saw Israel Defense Forces troops escort Asfour from his house and take him away. Also, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Israeli bulldozers were flattening the Palestinian Health Ministry. The IDF said it was checking the report. 
 

Powell met Saturday with the "Jerusalem Patriarchs," the leaders of the Palestinian Christian community, in Jerusalem to discuss the humanitarian conditions of Palestinian Christians in areas such as Bethlehem. 
 

Powell also met with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency "to discuss the severe humanitarian problems in the Palestinian areas, particularly in Jenin, and to express our deep concerns," according to State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. "He will continue to raise our concerns on these issues with the Israeli government," Boucher said.