Hebron deal holds key to peace accord

PATRICK COCKBURN

Jerusalem

Israeli and Palestinian leaders meet in Egypt tonight to try to reach an agreement about the future of Hebron, the Palestinian city which is the one obstacle which might prevent the signing of the second stage of the Oslo peace accords on the White House lawn next Thursday.

A special Israeli air force plane has been requested by the office of Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister, to take him and Shimon Peres, the Foreign Minister, to Washington for the ceremony. The US is putting heavy pressure on Yasser Arafat, the PLO chairman, to sign the agreement next week.

Under the terms of the document Israel will hand over six cities and towns on the West Bank to Mr Arafat as well as other civil and security powers. This will enable the Palestinians to hold an election and, in practice, will make it impossible for a future right-wing Israeli government to reverse the peace process.

The sticking point for many Palestinians is Hebron, from which Israel is refusing to withdraw its troops which protect 450 militant settlers. In the last week the settlers have attacked pupils at a girls' elementary school and on Thursday there were mass demonstrations by Palestinians which led to rioting.

''If everything goes as it should, we will meet on Saturday night when the main issue, the heavy issue, will be the issue of Hebron,'' Mr Peres said yesterday. Israel is refusing to evacuate the settlers or to confine its troops to the part of the city where they live. An opinion poll in the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot yesterday found 56 per cent of Israelis opposed to the evacuation of settlers from Hebron while 39 per cent were in favour.

The negotiations have been so prolonged because the Palestinians fear they are being offered isolated "Bantustans" which will be at the mercy of Israeli road blocks on the access roads. Israeli right-wingers like Ariel Sharon argue that, on the contrary, the six cities - Nablus, Jenin, Qalqilya, Tulkarm, Ramallah and Bethlehem - will be safe havens for Mr Arafat and his men enabling them to covertly control the West Bank.

Mr Arafat has been under intense pressure from people in Hebron, the capital of the southern West Bank with a population of some 400,000, not to sign an agreement which leaves them under occupation. But he may wish to sign now because otherwise Jewish holidays will force a postponement until mid-October.

In addition to Hebron, Mr Peres and Mr Arafat will discuss the release of Palestinian prisoners, the extradition of Palestinians wanted in Israel and rights to water. Agreement has been reached on elections in east Jerusalem where voting will take place in post offices but the votes will be counted outside the city. On prisoners, Israel does not want to release anybody involved in the killing of an Israeli directly or indirectly.

Both sides are negotiating in the knowledge that the Israeli and US elections next year may change the political landscape, bringing to power those who are opposed to the Oslo agreement.