Israel bringing home peace envoys early after toddler critically hurt in attack

Laurie Copans

Sunday, May 21, 2000 | 2:19 a.m.

JERUSALEM - Israel called home its envoys to unofficial peace talks in Sweden and barred travel by its citizens and foreign tourists to Palestinian-controlled territory hours after an Israeli toddler was critically hurt in an overnight firebomb attack in the West Bank.

At the same time, though, a weeklong spasm of street violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip ebbed Sunday, with Palestinian police keeping a tight lid on unrest - as Israel has been demanding they do.

The 2-year-old Israeli girl was severely burned when the car in which she was traveling was firebombed by unknown assailants early Sunday in the West Bank town of Jericho. Her mother and aunt, also in the car, suffered less serious burns, hospital officials said.

Hours later, Israel issued an unusual order banning its citizens and foreign tourists from traveling in Palestinian-controlled areas, which include most West Bank cities.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office also said it had told Israeli envoys to peace talks in Sweden to return home earlier than scheduled for consultations, though Sunday's round of talks went ahead as planned.

Barak spokesman Gadi Baltiansky said the injured toddler prompted Barak to recall his envoys, who were to have remained in Stockholm for another day or two.

"Anyone who thinks it is quiet today in the (Palestinian) territories is welcome to visit the 2-year-old girl in the hospital," he said.

In a statement, Israel's Cabinet called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to put an end to street violence in the Palestinian lands - something he already appears to be doing.

Barak has been under pressure from hard-liners both inside and outside his coalition to respond harshly to the violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. His announcement Sunday, however, stopped short of suspending peace talks, which have also been taking place on an official track in Israel and the Palestinian areas.

Only minor skirmishing took place at what had been seen as a potential flashpoint: a funeral in the West Bank town of Ramallah for Issa Abed, 28, who died Saturday after being shot by Israeli troops a day earlier.

About 70 marchers scuffled afterward with Palestinian police, throwing rocks that the police picked up and threw back. They dispersed after about an hour, after unsuccessfully trying to break through human chains formed by the Palestinian police officers.

Palestinian police took a much tougher security stance than they had in previous days, declaring parts of Ramallah a closed military area and keeping a close watch on the mourners.

It had been feared the funeral would spark more large-scale clashes like the ones that had swept the West Bank and Gaza for the past seven days.

Hundreds of Palestinians were hurt and four killed in clashes set off by protests over the plight of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and commemorations of "the catastrophe," as Palestinians call their dispersal in the wake of Israel's founding.

Palestinians see the prisoners as freedom fighters and say their release must be part of an end to the armed struggle between Israel and the Palestinians. Interim peace accords call for prisoner releases, but Israel says it has already fulfilled its obligations to free prisoners under those accords.

The Israeli order restricting travel in so-called Area A, lands under complete Palestinian security control, came after the army reported firebombs tossed at eight Israeli vehicles overnight and 40 the day before. But no injuries were reported other than those in Jericho.

The week of violence in the Palestinian lands, coupled with heavy fighting in south Lebanon, prompted Barak on Saturday to cancel a planned visit to the United States.

Despite tensions with the Palestinians, Israel's security cabinet decided Saturday night that unofficial peace talks in Stockholm should continue. On Sunday, though, the prime minister's office announced the Israeli negotiators were being summoned home early "in light of the situation in the territories" and to update them on conversations Barak has held in recent days with world leaders.

U.S. National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, who met Friday with Barak and late Saturday with Arafat, urged the two sides to press ahead with peace efforts.

"In the months ahead we have a historic opportunity that we must not allow to slip away," Berger said in a Tel Aviv speech.

Israel and the Palestinians are working on a final peace treaty to settle long-standing issues like the nature of a Palestinian state, the future of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinians want to set up a state with traditionally Arab east Jerusalem as the capital. They insist that refugees who fled Israel when it was created in 1948 have the right to return.