Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Tragic Day in Hebron

A tragic event unfolded in Hebron, with a deranged gunman killing more than 30 Muslims during Ramadan prayers. The incident has sparked a heated debate about the role of settlements and the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's office expressed shock and sadness over the event, with spokesman Oded Ben Ami calling for calm to prevent similar incidents. Palestinian officials, however, have questioned the effectiveness of the peace process, citing the ease with which settlers access weapons and the need to address the settlement issue immediately.

Key Takeaways:

• The Israeli Prime Minister's office expressed shock and sadness over the Hebron massacre, with spokesman Oded Ben Ami calling it a "very sad, very tragic day in Israel".
• Prime Minister Rabin plans to calm the situation to prevent similar events from happening again and allow the peace process to continue, but will not disarm settlers who use guns for self-protection.
• Saeb Areikat, head of the Palestinian delegation, has said that the prime minister was shocked but that no one should be surprised by the attack, given the presence of armed groups and settlers.
• The Declaration of Principals agreed upon by the Israelis and Palestinians excludes the issue of settlers from the negotiations, which Saeb Areikat believes makes it impossible for him to continue negotiating.
• Palestinian officials argue that the ease with which settlers access weapons and the settlement issue should be addressed immediately, rather than being deferred for later negotiations.
• Oded Ben Ami believes that Prime Minister Rabin will only disarm settlers who threaten to use their arms to attack, but not those who use them for self-protection.
• Israeli officials and Palestinian officials differ on the role of settlements in the peace process, with Israeli officials seeing them as a means of protection and Palestinian officials viewing them as an obstacle to peace.

Sources:

• "This is a very sad, very tragic day in Israel." - Oded Ben Ami, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's spokesman.
• "I believe the first thing he will try to do is try to calm things down in order to let first of all, the peace process, the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, keep on going..." - Oded Ben Ami, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's spokesman.
• "no one should be able to say he's surprised by this, because there are so many armed people out in the territories and militant group line the Kahane Lives group and the Block of the Faithful." - Saeb Areikat, head of the Palestinian delegation.
• "when a deranged man is slaying a group of Muslims while praying during their holy day, the Ramadan, and killing more than 30 of them, I don't think that you'll find one man on the globe that will not be surprised." - Oded Ben Ami, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's spokesman.
• "representatives of Israel" - Israeli officials.
• "In the Declaration of Principals?" - Saeb Areikat, head of the Palestinian delegation.
• "Hm-hmm, but what Mr. Areikat says right now is, that to be a negotiator in this process and to face one's own people back home in the West Bank after something like this has happened, is impossible." - Saeb Areikat, head of the Palestinian delegation.
• "because what confidence would his people have in him if this can happen?" - Saeb Areikat, head of the Palestinian delegation.
• "Well, I would tell Mr. Areikat that we witnessed two months ago, the killing of a father and a son in the vicinity of Hebron, two weeks later, we witnessed the killing of a lady, a young lady in her fifth month of pregnancy." - Oded Ben Ami, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's spokesman.
• "because if we let the deranged people, terrorists to derail us from the negotiations, then there is no way for us, Jews and Arabs, Palestinian, to live in this part of the world." - Oded Ben Ami, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's spokesman.