Israel has said that it welcomes a blueprint by CIA chief George Tenet for a lasting truce, but Palestinians have expressed reservations. Details of the Tenet plan were not officially released, but Israeli newspapers said that it called for Israel not to hit Palestinian targets, to pull troops back to positions held before the Palestinian uprising began last September and to prevent revenge attacks against Palestinians. The document also reportedly called for the Palestinian Authority to arrest Islamic Jihad and Hamas militants, halt incitement and destroy mortar ammunition stockpiles.
Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians have called for revenge at the funeral of three women who were killed by Israeli tank fire. The women were in their home in the Gaza Strip when it was hit by shells. The Israeli army said that it opened fire in response to Palestinian shooting. Israel and the United States today both voiced regret over the killing of the three Palestinian women - an event that threatened to undermine diplomatic efforts to shore up a fragile Middle East ceasefire. The three Bedouin women were killed overnight when Israeli forces fired shells near their tent home in a village near the flashpoint Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the central Gaza Strip.
It was the deadliest incident since Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ordered a ceasefire eight days ago following a suicide attack against a Tel Aviv discotheque that killed 20, plus the bomber. Israel had declared a unilateral ceasefire on 22 May. The Israeli army said that it shot at Palestinian gunmen late yesterday when two army posts guarding the Jewish settlement of Netzarim came under fire.
Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo had called on the US government to condemn the killing, which he branded a "shameful act" and a "clear Israeli violation" of a fragile ceasefire.
