It has been a week typical of this very atypical region. While diplomatic wheels continue to turn, even if ever so slowly, on the ground there is continued unrest signaling to the nature of this multi-layered conflict.

On the night of April 4, 12 members of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades escaped from the Nablus-area Jneid Prison, alleging “brutal” treatment by Palestinian security personnel there. The 12, all on Israel’s wanted list, were part of an immunity deal whereby they handed themselves in to Palestinian authorities rather than be arrested by Israel. However, the 12 claim prison authorities beat them with clubs and tear gassed their rooms after an altercation broke out between them. Mehdi Abu Ghazaleh, an Aqsa Martyrs commander and one of the escapees later told the press that they would “not return” despite their continued commitment to the ceasefire with Israel.

The Gaza Strip saw some action as well on April 4 when the convoy of Israeli Public Security Minister Avi Dichter was fired at by a Palestinian sniper near the Givat Nazmit observation point east of Khan Younis. Dicther’s bureau chief was moderately wounded but the minister escaped the shooting unscathed.

Almost immediately after, a number of Palestinian groups claimed responsibility for the attack. Hamas’ Izzedin Al Qassam Brigades, a group calling themselves the Army of the Nation, allegedly linked to Al Qaeda and a group called the Protectors of Al Aqsa all said their operatives carried out the shooting.

The attack came on the same day the 124th Gaza patient died after being denied travel abroad for medical treatment. The tiny victim was 12-month old Mohammed Haniyeh from Gaza City, who died from a congenital heart disease. According to the Popular Committee Against the Siege, the baby’s mother requested a permit four times to take the baby to an appointment in an Israeli hospital, but was refused.

The newest death comes on the heels of a World Health Organization report, which criticized Israel for its part in the death of these patients. According to the WHO Head of Office for the West Bank and Gaza, Ambrogio Manenti, over 100 Gaza patients have died since June. The report also said Israel denied permits to 18.5 percent of patients in 2007, a rise from 10 percent in 2006.

The report cited the death of a nine-year old child who died last November of meningitis after waiting days for a permit to leave Gaza. While the permit was eventually granted, one was not given to the Palestinian ambulance to take the child across Erez to be transferred to an Israeli hospital.

Meanwhile, Israel has begun to remove what it calls “checkpoints” but which are in effect dirt barricades as part of its promise to US Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice to ease restrictions on Palestinians. The army has so far removed 10 dirt barricades at the entrances to Nablus, Tulkarm and Qalqiliya and one checkpoint near Jericho. Israel has said it would remove 50 roadblocks out of the almost 600 distributed throughout the West Bank. Israel, however, was sure to retain the right to return the roadblocks if “any attacks are carried out.”

Three people were killed this week in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. On April 1, Abdul Latif Hroub, a 22-year-old university from Hebron was shot to death by an Israeli settler from Shilo. According to Israeli sources, Hroub had approached a bus stop wielding a knife when the settler shot him.

Two members of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Rabie’ Muhsen and Murad Khader, were also killed by Israeli artillery fire in Jabaliya on March 29. On April 3, 10 Palestinian fighters were injured in armed clashes during an Israeli army incursion into Khan Younis.

This week, diplomatic efforts were in full swing, both with the convention of the Arab Summit in Damascus and US Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice’s shuttle visit to the region. In his opening statement to the group of Arab leaders on March 29, President Abbas warned his Arab brethren of not reaching a peace agreement by the end of 2008, saying a failure to do so would push the region to new levels of tension and unrest. He urged the Arabs to “seriously consider” Arab and international protection for the Palestinian people.

Abbas criticized Israel as well, saying the Palestinians could not continue in negotiations with Israeli bulldozers constantly building settlements and stealing land.

The president also threw in his criticism of Hamas, saying his government was more than willing to cooperate with the Yemeni Initiative but only if Hamas reneged on their coup and relinquished control over Gaza.

Hamas did not take well to the remarks, saying Abbas’ speech “did not express the positions of the Palestinian people” who refuse any “sell-out” settlements.

Abbas then met with Rice in Amman on March 30 to discuss ways of pushing the peace process forward The US Secretary of State reassured Abbas that William Frasier, US President George Bush’s envoy to oversee the roadmap, would ensure that Israel carried out its implementations.

On the same day, Rice jumped back over the border into Jerusalem to meet with chief Israeli negotiator Tsipi Livni and told her an appropriate atmosphere must be created, which would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Livni, playing the part, said Israel was concerned with measures to improve Palestinian life, as long as it does not hinder Israel’s security.

Singing to this same tune, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly gave the green light to deploy 600 Palestinian police in the Jenin area as part of a security handover to the Palestinians. While the Palestinian police would patrol the area, Israeli police and army retain an absolute right to enter, arrest or invade this area whenever deemed necessary.

President Abbas also did some border hopping, meeting on April 2 with Egyptian President Husni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Cairo. During a press conference after the meeting, the Palestinian president expressed his concerns over reaching an agreement by the end of 2008 despite his seriousness in negotiating with Israel.

Rice maintained a positive attitude, stating in Amman on March 31 that the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were on the right track and that it was still possible to reach an agreement by the end of the year.

Still, Abbas has good reason to be concerned. Just as Israel announced it has removed two “illegal” settlement outposts near Nablus, on April 2, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also approved 1,908 new housing units in east Jerusalem settlements.

This poses a problem for the Palestinians on two levels. Not only do they – along with the international community – consider all settlements illegal, they also oppose Israel’s insistence that east Jerusalem settlements are not located in occupied territory but in Israel’s capital.

Palestinians are battling internal problems as well. On March 31, Hamas operatives broke into Al Azhar University at the crack of dawn, locking its guards in a room and proceeding to hang Hamas banners and slogans throughout the campus. The mayhem continued once students and staff began filing into the university, with fights breaking out between them. The university closed its doors the next day in protest, strongly condemning the break in. Hamas later said their police acted appropriately and restored order even though staff had been beaten by Hamas activists both from inside and outside the university.

Apparently, the university and Fateh students were protesting a Hamas rally organized in memory of the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.

The West Bank government is also under fire from teachers, who are striking in demand of higher salaries. On April 3, the teachers struck an entire day as opposed to the hours-long partial strike they had adopted since the beginning of March. Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad said in press conference that day that the government is “giving the most it can” but that a raise in salaries was out of the question at this time because of the debts on the PA. The strike has affected approximately 530,000 students.

Fayyad also mandated the education ministry to compensate the students for the time they missed and ordered that no salaries are to be paid to any teacher or employee that does not show up to work.