According to Israeli military radio the caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak has renounced taking up the post of defence minister in a government of national unity being formed by Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon. Quoting a source in Mr Barak's office, it said that the outgoing premier had announced his decision in letters to both Mr Sharon and to the secretary general of the Labour party, which Mr Barak currently heads.
In these letters, Mr Barak also confirmed that he would give up both the leadership of the Labour party and his seat in parliament. Mr Barak's decision is expected to make it easier for right-winger Sharon to form a broad-based government with the Labour Party, the type of coalition that many say would have the best chances of reaching peace with the Palestinians.
The Israeli Prime Minister-elect had increased pressure on Ehud Barak, to join a national unity government. Mr Barak agreed last Thursday to form a coalition with Ariel Sharon's right-wing Likud Party, but fierce opposition from disgruntled members of his Labor party has forced Mr Barak to delay a party vote on the decision until Monday.
A spokesman for Mr Sharon denied reports in the Israeli press that the Likud leader had issued a one-week deadline for formation, but he agreed that he was pushing Labor to make a decision quickly. "There is no deadline except to tell them we can't wait forever," Raanan Gissin said.
As violence continues across the region, Palestinians have planned another "day of rage", with marches planned to protest against Israeli occupation. A 17-year-old student bystander was wounded in her hand and leg this morning when Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets at Palestinian boys who were throwing stones at a Jewish settlement in the centre of the West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian police and witnesses said. However, the Israeli Army said that it was responding to fire on the settlement and reported no injuries. Eight people, including a Dutchman and a South African who worked at an amusement park, were injured in violence in the West Bank yesterday.
In a separate development, an Israeli government commission has resumed hearings into the killing of 13 Israeli Arabs in October at the hands of the police. The opening session was suspended yesterday following an angry outburst from relatives of the dead. Officials then decided to separate witnesses and victims' families for the remaining sessions.
The second day of hearings is to focus on the deaths of Ahmed Siyam Jabareen, 18, and Ibrahim Jabareen, 24, along with 14-year-old Palestinian Abu Jared, who was killed by police in the Israeli Arab city of Umm el-Fahm. The commission, chaired by High Court judge Theodor Or, was set up in November after pressure from Israeli human rights groups and Israeli Arabs, who were outraged by the killings.
