JERUSALEM - Up to 15 Palestinian militants wanted by Israel have returned to the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said Friday, complaining that the Palestinian Authority had not fulfilled its obligation since taking control of the border with Egypt last week.
The Palestinians said they did not violate a U.S.-brokered deal for operating the Rafah terminal, and that the fugitives had the right to return. European monitors at Rafah said they were trying to settle the dispute to protect the border agreement, the biggest diplomatic achievement since Israel's pullout from Gaza last summer.
Under the accord, Israel can raise objections with the European monitors at Rafah, but the Palestinians have the final say on who gets in and out of Gaza.
The flareup over Rafah came as Israelis and Palestinians entered heated election campaigns.
Israeli Cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit, an ally of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said in an interview published Friday that Israel would eventually have to pull out of most of the West Bank and allow the Palestinians to establish a state. In the meantime, "not a single additional house" should be built in West Bank settlements, Sheetrit told the Jerusalem Post .
Sheetrit was the second Sharon ally to hint at large-scale territorial concessions if Sharon is elected to a third term March 28. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said this week that Israel's separation barrier, which carves off 8 percent of the West Bank, could help determine a future border.
Sharon has said only that Israel will keep large Jewish settlements in the West Bank, most of which are on the "Israeli" side of the barrier, and that he rules out additional unilateral withdrawals.
Also Friday, Palestinian officials with the ruling Fatah party called off primary voting in Salfit and Qalqiliya, two West Bank towns, after gunmen fired into the air and burned ballot boxes.
Violence and confusion have plagued Fatah's staggered primary voting in recent weeks, leaving the party in disarray as it gears up for a stiff challenge from Hamas in an election scheduled for January.
Israel tests defense against Iranian attack
JERUSALEM - Israel's Arrow missile defense system intercepted and destroyed a missile similar to Iran's long-range Shahab-3 during a test Friday, prompting Israel's defense minister to declare it an effective shield against a possible future Iranian nuclear threat.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said that in light of Iran's recent threats against Israel and efforts to develop nonconventional weapons, Israel needs an effective shield.
Iran's Shahab-3 can be equipped with nuclear warheads and can reach Israel, as well as several U.S. military installations in the Middle East. Israeli concerns were heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in October said Israel must be "wiped off the map."
State-owned Israel Aircraft Industries and U.S.-based Boeing Co. began developing the Arrow system after Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
It was the 14th test of the system, and the first since last year.
