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The Media Line Daily News Focus

Reported from Jerusalem

1. TWO ISRAELIS KILLED IN ROSH HASHANA TERROR ATTACK… Two Israelis, including a seven-month old baby, were killed when a terrorist infiltrated the community of Negohot, southwest of Hebron, and fired into a home. Shortly after the Avraham family and their guests sat down to a holiday meal on the first evening of the Jewish New Year, Eyal Yeverbaum, a guest of the Avrahams, answered a knock at the door and was felled by the point-blank gunfire. Before he died, Yeverbaum slammed the door shut, but the terrorist continued firing at the house, killing seven-month old Shaked Avraham and injuring others with shrapnel. The killer was shot dead by Israeli army troops as he tried to escape. Israeli security sources report that the terrorist had recently concluded a 14-month sentence for security offenses and was released.

2. BOMB-MAKER KILLED BY PREMATURE DETONATION… A Palestinian assembling a bomb in the Gaza town of Rafah died on Saturday when the device he was assembling blew up prematurely. A second man was injured in the blast. At least eight suspected terrorists were arrested in other action by Israeli security forces on Sunday night. Israeli Army Radio is quoting security services as reporting 40 current terror warnings, the same level that existed “pre-hudna.” Notwithstanding the recent violence, Israeli forces have lifted the closure on Palestinian areas put into effect for the Rosh Hashana holiday.

3. QUREI’ PREPARES TO PRESENT CABINET… Ahmad Queri’s new cabinet received approval from Yassir Arafat and the Fatah Central Council on Friday and is expected to be presented to the Palestinian Legislative Council for a vote of confidence by the end of this week. Qurei’ asked Arafat’s Fatah faction to name 16 of 24 ministers. Not surprisingly, the Fatah slate deleted three loyalists of previous prime minister, Mahmoud ‘Abbas, including security chief Muhammad Dahlan, a Washington favorite. The overwhelmingly Arafat-loyal cabinet will place the U.S. and Israel in a quandary with both governments having repeatedly warned they will not negotiate with an Arafat-appointed or controlled government.

4. SHARON CABINET MEETS ON FENCE ROUTE MONDAY… Ariel Sharon will convene his security cabinet on Monday to review the route of the next section that will be built onto the controversial security fence. The portion in question will run from the Samarian community of Elkana to northern Jerusalem. Also in question are portions of the fence that the Bush Administration objects to and an area designed to prevent terror attacks against aircraft landing and taking-off from Ben Gurion International Airport. American experts are due to come to Israel to assist with those assessments.

5. IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WARNS ISRAEL… Speaking on the American Sunday news program, “ABC’s This Week,” the Iranian foreign minister warned Israel against striking its nuclear facilities. Kamal Kharazi said that Iran has no “program to produce weapons of mass destruction,” and views possible action by Israel as “a threat.” Just the day before, U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin both demanded that Iran abandon any intent to build nuclear weapons. That warning followed a public display by Iran of its new medium-range missiles that have the capacity to reach Israel or American bases in the region.

6. EGYPTIAN-ISRAELI NATURAL GAS DEAL BACK ON BURNER… Egypt and Israel have reportedly resumed negotiations that could lead to the sale of 247 million cubic feet of Egyptian natural gas to Israel each year for 20 years. Talks concerning the deal, which had appeared to be promising, were suspended following the outbreak of unbridled Palestinian violence in September 2000. According to media reports, Israel has set a November deadline for the conclusion of negotiations.

7. JOB-ACTION DISRUPTIONS REPORTED AT BEN GURION AIRPORT MONDAY MORNING… Disruptions at Israel’s main gateway, Ben Gurion International Airport, quickly became the most notable manifestation of the newly imposed job action by some 50,000 government workers on Monday morning. Among areas affected, workers are not dealing with the public, the postal service is not delivering mail, and it’s not possible to obtain a birth certificate or license. At the airport, fist fights were reported between irate passengers waiting for their bags and long lines formed when customs inspectors began inspecting every piece of luggage.