Israel said Thursday it would exercise its right to self defense, but stopped short of formally abandoning U.S.-backed truce efforts following a Palestinian suicide bombing in a hotel banquet hall.
Israel’s Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer convened senior officers and Shin Bet security service officials late Wednesday night, to make a decision on Israel's response to the Netanya attack in which 20 people were killed and more than 100 people were injured.
Police said a Swedish woman and several other European tourists were among those killed, but by Thursday morning, only about half the dead had been identified.
Israeli security sources said Wednesday evening that the attack would have far-reaching consequences on the conflict with the Palestinian Authority.
The sources said the Palestinian Authority was responsible for the failure of the cease-fire mission of U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni, dispatched by President George Bush to broker a truce.
According to the sources, Israel will end the policy of restraint it has undertaken in the past week due to the Zinni efforts. Adviser to Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Ra'anan Gissin, said Wednesday that the attack "will require us to re-evaluate our overall policy."
"We are still working to achieve a cease-fire to which we are fully committed, but if the Palestinians have decided to choose the road of terrorism... then we have to decide what measures we will take," Gissin said.
Political analysts said Sharon could launch a broad military offensive to try to quell the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
Some cabinet ministers want Arafat expelled from the region and the Palestinian Authority toppled.
Other options Sharon is likely to consider include sending troops to reoccupy, at least temporarily, Palestinian-ruled cities and launching air strikes against security targets.
Sharon is due to convene his ministers Thursday night to discuss a possible response to the suicide bombing in Netanya.
During the meeting, the ministers will discuss propositions that were put forward during a security meeting conducted by Ben-Eliezer. They will also review several backup plans that the Israeli army has prepared in case of an escalation in violence.
Palestinian sources said Thursday that Israeli tanks began blockading areas in the Gaza Strip and near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
For its part, the United States condemned the bombing and said it showed the need for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to crack down on militants.
U.S. President George W. Bush said that the "cold-blooded killing" in the Middle East must stop and called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to end the violence. "Today, there was another suicide bomber who murdered innocent Israelis. This callous, this cold-blooded killing, it must stop," Bush said in a speech in Atlanta, Georgia. "I condemn it in the most strongest of terms.
"I call upon Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to do everything in their power to stop the terrorist killing because there are people in the Middle East who would rather kill than have peace," he added. "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this terrorist bombing, which underscores the need for Chairman Arafat to take all possible measures to bring attacks like this to an immediate end," said State Department spokesman Gregg Sullivan.
He noted that Zinni remains in the Middle East to work with Israel and the Palestinians on a security work plan.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Arafat to broadcast a message to Palestinians that "they are destroying their own desire and vision for a Palestinian state." Powell indicated Washington would stick with the Zinni mission for now. "Every one of these bombings sets us back but at the same time it renews our determination," he said.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in a statement: "I am horrified at the level of violence reached. Civilians on both sides are by now the main victims of a conflict situation which they never chose to be part of."
"I appeal to the parties to find, at this gravest of times, the courage to pursue last-ditch efforts to reach a cease-fire."
PA
Palestinian sources said Thursday afternoon that Palestinian Authority security forces were on high alert and that all government and military buildings in the West Bank city of Ramallah were evacuated for fear of an IDF attack.
The sources said all military facilities in Palestinian cities were evacuated, and that many citizens bought food and emergency supplies in preparation of a long siege by Israel.
The sources added that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told his aides that he feared for his life, because Sharon was showing signs that he wanted to harm him personally.
The Qatari television station Al Jazzera reported Thursday that European countries instructed foreign representatives to leave Ramallah.
For its part, the Palestinian Authority officially condemned the bombing, saying the attack was designed to undermine the U.S. ceasefire mission and the Arab summit in Beirut.
The Palestinian Authority also said that it would take serious measures against the people responsible for the attack and will bring them to justice.
A Palestinian source said Wednesday night that Arafat met with his security chiefs and ordered the arrests of key members from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a group linked to his Fatah movement.
Palestinian Preventative security chief for the West Bank, Jibril Rajoub, also condemned the bombing, but said Wednesday that Israel's harsh occupation of Palestinian territory provoked such attacks. Rajoub said Israeli "assassinations" of activists, continued closures of Palestinian towns and other collective punishments only bred "terrorism."
"Despite the steady policy of the Palestinian Authority, which opposes hitting civilian targets especially inside the Green Line [Israel's 1967 border], the frustrations, suffering and pain imposed by [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon on the Palestinians pushes some Palestinians to carry out such attacks," he said.
Rajoub said Israelis must start lifting the blockades of Palestinian cities and acknowledged that "occupation breeds terrorism." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
