The Palestinian Authority took a series of radical steps, driven by President Yasser Arafat, to try to stop anti-Israeli attacks after clear threats of reprisals by the Jewish state, said reports. Nevertheless, violent confrontations were still underway leading to the injury of a Jewish settler. The Palestinians reportedly exploded two bloodless bombs in Netanya and Nablus in the West Bank.
The high council of Palestinian national security, meeting in Gaza City late Saturday, dissolved the Fateh body responsible for shelling Israeli settlements and gave the order to prevent such attacks and to intensify the security patrols, said AFP.
"The firing of mortar shells must stop," Arafat said by phone from the West Bank town of Ramallah, to the leaders of the various security services that make up the high council, according to an official.
At the same time, the Palestinian police arrested one of the main leaders of the Islamic Hamas movement, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, for his "criticisms and threats" against the Palestinian Authority, said the agency.
During a large rally in the refugee camp of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip, Rantissi declared that his movement was opposed to the Jordanian-Egyptian peace plan and shouted out, while waving his Kalashnikov assault rifle: "This is our path."
This series of measures, the firmest since the start of the Intifada comes after Israeli threats of reprisals following mortar attacks Saturday claimed by Arafat's Fateh movement.
The measures also followed a telephone call Saturday evening from US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who discussed "recent developments" with Arafat, according to a Palestinian official.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accused the Palestinian Authority of being "directly responsible" for three mortar attacks on Jewish settlements, one of which left five people wounded at Netzer Hazani in the southern Gaza Strip.
These attacks "prove that the Palestinian Authority is not doing anything to prevent, and is actively involved in, attacks on innocent Israeli women and children in their own communities," the statement said, cited by Haaretz newspaper.
His advisor, Avni Pazner, said that Israel "will choose the way and the time and the form of our response," saying "the situation is not tolerable to us."
According to him, the Fateh claim is "even more serious because it is Arafat's own organization, and it is Arafat who promised personally, personally, to stop the mortar fire coming from Gaza."
On April 18, Arafat ordered his security services to prevent firing on Israeli territory and the Jewish settlements from within Palestinian territory.
On Saturday, Fateh claimed responsibility for the first time for two mortar attacks. One, which did not cause any casualties, targeted the settlements of the Gush Katif bloc overnight Friday, and the other wounded five settlers in the Netzer Hazani settlement.
In careful language, the high council for Palestinian security only announced the dissolution of the committees of popular resistance, which comes from Fateh.
"All the members of these committees must reintegrate their positions at the heart of the security services, and those who do not expose themselves to action under the law," a Palestinian official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The committees of popular resistance were formed after the start of the Intifada seven months ago.
Jointly known as Tanzim by Israel, they have claimed various anti-Israeli operations in the occupied territories.
JEWISH SETTLER LIGHTLY INJURED IN SHOOTING NEAR GAZA STRIP SETTLEMENT
A Jewish settler was lightly injured Sunday when Israeli soldiers and armed Palestinians exchanged fire near the Neve Dekalim settlement in the southern Gaza Strip, said AFP.
"Palestinians opened gunfire on Neve Dekalim injuring one, and our forces retaliated with tanks," the spokesman told AFP.
Quoting settlers, Israeli radio had earlier reported mortar fire on the settlement but the army spokesman denied any such attack.
TWO BOMBS, NO INJURIES
A remote-controlled bomb exploded early Sunday as a school bus carrying children from a Jewish settlement passed in the West Bank but no one was hurt, said The Jerusalem Post newspaper.
The explosion occurred at a junction near the settlement of Homesh north of Nablus. The Israeli army sealed off the area to search for other devices, said the paper.
Meanwhile, Haaretz reported that police sappers detonated Sunday an explosive device in the Nordau neighborhood in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv after vigilant passersby spotted a man placing a bag in the commercial center in the area.
Sappers used a remote control robot to detonate the bomb, said the paper, citing the Army Radio. Witnesses said they spotted a man escaping from the scene.
PALESTINIAN, ISRAELI KILLED SATURDAY
Meanwhile, an Israeli was killed by unknown gunmen in the north of Israel, and a Palestinian was fatally wounded by gunfire from Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, in what Palestinians called as assassination attempt.
An Israeli man was killed and three others were lightly wounded in a shooting attack near the Umm al-Fahm Junction on Saturday night, within the Green Line, said Haaretz newspaper. The five Israelis in the vehicle were all members of the same family.
Shots were fired apparently from a vehicle overtaking the car belonging to their victims, said the paper, adding that the gunmen fled the scene.
According to initial reports, the shots came from a white Peugeot 205. Israel Radio reported that the gunmen's car at first drew up alongside the Israeli car, apparently to ask for directions.
The victims were taken to Ha'emek Hospital in Afula.
The Israeli army has sealed off a section of the Wadi Ara road, between the Barkai junction and Megido junction, following the incident and police are searching for the gunmen, the paper added.
Meanwhile, tension in the Palestinian territories rose Saturday ahead of two scheduled security meetings between Israelis and Palestinians, as both sides threatened further retribution for fresh killings.
Israeli soldiers opened fire on a Palestinian's car at the northern entrance to the West Bank town of Bethlehem, in what Palestinians reportedly described as an assassination.
Israeli military radio quoted sources in Fateh organization as saying Imad Daud Karake, 27, was assassinated by Israel because he was an activist with Arafat's Fateh, said AFP.
He had been driving near Rachel's Tomb, a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims, when army forces fired at his car, killing him and injuring two other passengers in the vehicle including his five-year old son and a friend of his - Albawaba.com
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