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Israel on Thursday handed over to the Palestinian government theremains of 91 militants who had been killed while carrying outsuicide bombings and other attacks in an effort to renewlong-stalled peace talks. More related to this story Israel mulls 'unilateral action' in West Bank Israel skeptical of Iranian nuclear program despite deal with UN Israel's latest battle pits ultra-Orthodox Jews against most otherIsraelis The bodies had been buried in coffins in Israel and were dug up forthe transfer. Seventy-nine were transported to Ramallah, which isrun by the Palestinian Authority, and 12 to the Hamas-run GazaStrip, which is run by the rival Islamic militant group Hamas. Israeli officials handed over the remains to Palestinian liaisonsin the Jordan Valley, according to Palestinian official SalemKhileh. We hope that this humanitarian gesture will serve both as aconfidence-building measure and help get the peace process back ontrack, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said. Israel isready for the immediate resumption of peace talks without anypreconditions whatsoever. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave no sign that the gesturewould persuade him to return to talks. The major obstacles to resuming negotiations were Israel'srefusal to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank andeast Jerusalem, and the need to negotiate on the basis of the linesIsrael held before capturing those territories in 1967, he saidThursday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Palestinians see those areas as the core of a future state thatwould also include Gaza. Israel rejects that demand. Israeli-Palestinian talks stalled more than three years ago andhave failed to take off again despite U.S. mediation, primarilybecause of the dispute over settlement construction. The transfer of the bodies came a day after Israeli DefenseMinister Ehud Barak said Israel cannot wait forever to reachaccord, suggesting the government could consider taking unilateralaction. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday thatunilateral action isn't a substitute for Israeli-Palestiniannegotiations on a two-state solution. She also told reporters inDenmark that prospects have improved with the emergence of a newIsraeli coalition government under Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu. Dozens of Islamic Jihad fighters and families holding framedpictures of their dead relatives welcomed the 12 coffins as theyentered Gaza, draped with Palestinian national flags that were thenpresented to families. Women ululated and threw rice and sugar overthe coffins. Hamas police officers fired 21 shots into the air insalute. Thousands spilled into Gaza's streets for the funeral procession,many stopping to mark a moment of silence. Islamic Jihad fightersarmed with machine guns and hand grenades wore white robes andmasks clothes meant to symbolize the martyrdom of the suicidebombers. All 91 returned were killed carrying out attacks on Israelitargets, Palestinian officials said. At least one of the attacksdated back to the 1970s. Two armed men, clad in black uniforms and bandanas, kissed theforehead of a suicide bomber's mother as the vehicle carrying hisbody arrived. Her 21-year-old son, Ramzi Obaied of Islamic Jihad,killed 24 Israelis in a 1996 attack in Tel Aviv. My son was a hero, said the black-clad woman, who identifiedherself as Um Hidar. The enemy feared him even after his death,for they kept his body. Mirvat Zaoul's husband, Mohammed Zaoul, killed four Israelis in a2004 suicide attack in Jerusalem. She said she thought her11-year-old son would be sad to hear that his father's remainswould be returned to the West Bank. But he was happy, she said. He said, I'm going to visit hisgrave every day and put a flower there for him. More related to this story Palestinian prisoners end hunger strike over prison conditions Israeli envoy to meet with Palestinian president to discuss stalledpeace talks Stronger Netanyahu likely to focus on domestic agenda. I am an expert from bodypiercings-jewelry.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Vibrating Tongue Barbell , Fake Tunnel Earring, Belly Ring Jewelry,and more.
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