Tensions escalate after Israeli prison siege

Tensions escalated in the Palestinian territories after a day-long Israeli siege of a West Bank prison, that sparked mass protests and a wave of kidnappings, AFP reported.

The Israeli raid on the Jericho prison, which killed two Palestinian prison guards and wounded 26 others, was aimed at capturing a number of Palestinian detainees, including Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), for their alleged role in the assassination of an Israeli minister in 2001.

Israeli Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra said the Jericho raid was carried out to prevent PFLP detainees from being released, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed readiness to free them in recent weeks.

Saadat initially refused to surrender, but he later walked out of his cell. His British lawyer, Daniel Machover, told the BBC that his client had been unjustly detained for four years. "Our client, has not been charged, tried, convicted of any offence," he said.

The PFLP warned that Saadat’s seizure would "not pass without retaliation", and all Palestinian resistance groups later called for a general strike on Wednesday.

"Kidnapping operation"

The Palestinians blame the raid on Britain and the U.S., who removed their guards from the jail just before the Israeli raid. There were 200 detainees and warders in the prison at the time.

“The authority denounces this aggression and calls on the Israeli government to withdraw immediately from Jericho and to stop all the military acts, and it calls on the American and British observers to return immediately," Abbas, who cut a short trop to Europe after the Israeli raid, also said in a statement:

The Palestinian leader was on the first day of a visit aimed at securing aid for the Palestinians, after the European Union threatened to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas‘ election victory.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat also denounced what he described as a "kidnapping operation" and held the UK and the U.S. responsible for the safety of Saadat, whose predecessor was assassinated by Israel in 2001.

Meanwhile, Arab League chief Amr Moussa accused the U.S. and Britain of coordinating the raid with Israel. "Clearly, there is some sort of coordination," he said, according to Reuters. "This (withdrawal of U.S. and British monitors) raises obvious question marks."

Moussa also said he contacted Arab and international leaders, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, to "bring a swift and complete end to this dangerous and strange (Israeli) intervention".

"This is a dangerous indicator about Israel's future policies," he added.

The world's largest Muslim organization also urged the international community to denounce what it said was a move that would escalate "violence and extremism" throughout the world.

"The governments of Britain and the United States bear direct and serious responsibility for what happened in the prison and escalating what took place later," said a statement from the Saudi-based Organization of the Islamic Conference.

On the other hand, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw denied the accusations, saying that the monitors were withdrawn for their safety.

The European Union condemned Israel’s massive raid and the wave of kidnappings of foreigners. "We strongly condemn the attack on the prison in Jericho by Israeli forces as well as the resulting kidnappings and acts of violence in the Palestinian territories," Josep Borrell, president of the European Parliament said in a statement.

The EU also warned Abbas that funding to the Palestinians could be halted if attacks on EU property and abductions of Europeans didn’t stop. However, it said the 120m euros aid package agreed last month wouldn’t be affected.