Declaring 2005 a year of opportunity, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held out the prospect of an independent state for the Palestinians if they stop violence and said he is ready to coordinate a Gaza pullout with them. Sharon's speech was strikingly optimistic, a sign of change in the post-Yasser Arafat era, but Palestinian leaders said it fell short of expectations.
| Everything falls short of their expectations, doesn't it? |
In Gaza, fighting continued. Israeli troops raided the Khan Younis refugee camp Friday after Palestinian mortar fire killed a Thai worker in a Jewish settlement and injured 17 people, including 11 soldiers, in the past week. Three Palestinians, including at least one gunman, were killed in Friday's army raid. Bulldozers began knocking down buildings, and hundreds of Palestinians fled their homes for fear the army would demolish them. Addressing an academic conference Thursday evening, Sharon said Arafat had been the main obstacle to peace and his death in November turned 2005 into a "year of great opportunity." |