ISRAEL: In an apparent capitulation to demands by militant groups related to his ruling Fatah party, the Palestinian president, Mr Yasser Arafat, yesterday reinstated the security chief in the Gaza Strip only days after replacing him with his nephew.
Mr Abdel Razek Majaideh was restored to his position, after being deposed by Mr Arafat, following several chaotic days in Gaza that have been marked by kidnappings, resignations of senior officials and even attacks on Palestinian Authority security installations. It was unclear, however, how much control he would wield over the Palestinian leader's nephew, Mr Mussa Arafat.
The appointment of Mr Arafat, who is viewed by many in the Strip as a symbol of Palestinian Authority corruption, sparked street demonstrations and attacks by militants on his headquarters at the weekend. Several hundred supporters of Mussa Arafat - many of them said to be security officers who donned civilian clothes - yesterday took to the streets to support their commander.
The Palestinian Prime Minister, Mr Ahmed Qurei, who announced his resignation on Friday because of "the state of lawlessness" in Gaza, insisted yesterday he was standing by his decision, despite Mr Yasser Arafat's refusal to accept it.
Mr Qurei has called for reform of the Palestinian security apparatus. In indirect criticism of Mr Arafat, he said the time had come to "reactivate all our security branches based on the correct principles. It is now time to appoint the right man to the right position."
US officials said they were worried about the situation in Gaza. White House spokesman Mr Scott McClellan expressed the Bush administration's long-held demand for political reform, calling for a Palestinian government "committed to cracking down on terrorism and establishing a unified security structure to improve the security situation".
Three Palestinian militants were injured in an Israeli air strike in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza yesterday. A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees said the air strike was aimed at one of its leaders and he had been injured.
On the Jordan-Israel border, Jordanian security officials shot two armed men dead, wounded a third and captured a fourth man as the group tried to get into Israel. An Israeli soldier was lightly injured.
A gunman on a motorcycle killed a district court judge in a suburb of Tel Aviv yesterday evening in the first such killing in Israel. Israeli officials were quick to dismiss the possibility that the killing had been carried out by Palestinian militants.