Israel to Allow MIA Kin to Contact PLO

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Monday that he has waived Israeli law and allowed the families of missing Israeli soldiers to visit PLO officials in Tunis in order to locate the servicemen.

“I authorized the families to meet with the PLO, even for someone from the families to travel to (PLO headquarters in) Tunisia, because I thought that in this matter there are no conditions,” Rabin told the Labor Party student faction at Tel Aviv University.

Under Israeli law, contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization are illegal.

The defense minister said the military is doing everything possible to locate and obtain the release of missing soldiers.

“In order to receive information for the families it is allowed to meet without any conditions or limits whatsoever, also at our expense,” he said.

Six Israeli soldiers are listed as missing and one captured. On Sunday, an army spokesman said that captured air force navigator Ron Arad is being held by Iran or pro-Iranian militias in Lebanon.

Rabin’s revelation comes amid increasing reports that Israeli officials have had indirect contacts with the PLO and that the government has chosen to overlook political meetings between Palestinians from the occupied territories and PLO officials.

Also Monday, military officials confirmed that Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip have vandalized homes being built by Palestinians from Egypt. Under the Camp David agreement, several thousand Palestinians from a refugee camp in Egypt will be allowed to move to the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

Under the agreement, which is intended to reunite families, the Palestinians are allowed to build homes in Rafah before moving there.

Jewish settlers in Gaza have vowed that they will not cease their activities until the transfer of Palestinians from Egypt is stopped. The Gaza Settlers Committee announced that settlers have damaged the walls and foundations of two houses under construction.

Palestinians angered by the settlers’ actions clashed with Israeli soldiers in Rafah, and at least nine Palestinians were shot and wounded in the violence, Palestinian sources said.

In both the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, residents observed a general strike.

Meanwhile, for the first time in the two-year-old Palestinian uprising, police have charged journalists with entering an area declared closed by the military, police said.

The charges were brought against three Israeli reporters--Joel Greenberg of the English-language Jerusalem Post, Ori Nir of Haaretz and Oren Cohen of Hadashot.

Shaul Naim, police prosecutor, said the three will not be jailed during legal proceedings but could be sentenced to up to two years in prison if convicted of the charges. He said he is uncertain when the trial will be held.

During the uprising, soldiers have regularly blocked reporters from entering troubled towns or villages by declaring them closed military areas. While reporters have been detained several times for entering such areas, no charges had been brought.