Nazir Majally, Asharq Al-Awsat

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 27 November 2003 — A nine-year-old Palestinian boy died after being shot in the head in cold blood by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip yesterday as Israel sought to play down the significance of a decision that would see Washington deduct nearly $300 million from loan guarantees as punishment over the settlements and the barrier wall being built by Israel in the West Bank.

And Palestinian Premier Ahmed Qorei lined up his first meeting with a top US official. “These measures form part of our tacit understanding and should not worry us,” Absorption Minister Tsippe Livni told public radio about the US cut.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington announced late Tuesday that the United States would reduce loan guarantees currently available to Israel after disagreements over its policies in the Palestinian territories.

Washington has been particularly annoyed by Israel’s construction of a separation barrier in the West Bank which US President George W. Bush said last week threatened to prejudice final status negotiations.

“The important thing for us is that the security fence (the barrier) will include a maximum number of our nationals,” Livni said.

“We must dismantle the settlement outposts to convince the Americans that we are serious and rally them to our point of view.”

The Israeli Embassy said that the $289.5 million to be deducted from the loan guarantees was “suggested” by Israel.

“Israel accepts that the United States does not view some of the Israeli activities to date in parts of Judea, Samaria and Gaza as being consistent with US policy,” a statement added.

White House national security spokesman Sean McCormack said the move “acknowledges US policy concerns and US law regarding activities in the West Bank and Gaza and is a reflection of close and continuing consultations between our two governments.”

Meanwhile Palestinian medical sources said a nine-year-old boy died after being shot in the head by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza Strip.

Hani Selim Al-Rabayah, from Rafah, died shortly after arriving at the town’s hospital at around 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), hospital director Ali Mussa said.

An Israeli military source said that it was checking into the report.

“As of this moment, we have no information of any kind of fire ... along the Egyptian border in recent hours, nor has any complaint been filed,” the source added.

The public airing of disagreements between the United States and Israel comes as Washington assesses its response to new Palestinian Prime Minister Qorei.

Sources within the premier’s office said yesterday that Qorei would meet US envoy William Burns this weekend at his West Bank offices, his first meeting with a senior US official since his government was approved earlier this month.

The visit by Burns, assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, is part of US efforts to revive the international road map for peace which has stalled in recent months.

No date has been set for the meeting but diplomatic sources expect Burns to arrive in Israel on Saturday before meeting up with Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Powell has told Qorei by phone that he looks forward to working with him but Washington remains wary of a man who has a long working relationship with veteran leader Yasser Arafat.

Meanwhile the backers of an alternative Middle East peace plan, to be unveiled in Switzerland on Monday, said they could be given an audience by Powell on an upcoming trip.

“I can confirm that in the next two weeks there will be a visit to Washington of the initiators of the Geneva Initiative ... The possibilities of a meeting with Powell have been mentioned,” said a spokesman for the initiative’s chief Israeli negotiator Yossi Beilin.

The prospect of such a meeting drew a sharp response from the Israeli government, which insists the road map is the only path to peace.

“We know that the State Department, under the leadership of Colin Powell, is not the hottest hothouse of love for Israel in the United States,” Trade Minister Ehud Olmert told army radio.

— Additional input from agencies