Israeli tanks took up positions near Dir Al-Balah in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning, Israel Radio reported. This Israeli move came just a few hours after Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza following a massive operation to what it termed as directed to "root out Qassam-2 rockets."
Israel Radio said that the troops re-entered Gaza to search for those responsible for firing three mortars on Israeli targets overnight. One landed in the south of the Gaza Strip, a second near an outpost in the Gush Katif block of settlements in northern Gaza and a third near the settlement of Morag. No Israeli injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reports claim that Wednesday’s Gaza Strip incursion failed to achieve it goals. Thus, Israel’s Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said on Thursday that he backed, and also personally authorized, the Israeli operation in the northern Gaza Strip, which took place a day before.
The military operation intended to target Palestinian mortar and missile crews, has been extensively criticized on Thursday as being slow and ineffective.
Senior Israeli military sources told the press the slow movement of Israeli forces allowed wanted Palestinian activists to successfully escape and avoid arrest.
Powell
United States Secretary of State Colin Powell told Congress that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accepted responsibility as chairman of the Palestinian Authority for an attempt to smuggle 50 tons of weapons from Iran.
On Wednesday, Powell said, however, that Arafat has not accepted personal responsibility for the affair, which Israel blocked early January by intercepting in the Red Sea the Karine A ship loaded with the arms.
Earlier, Powell had termed as “positive” a letter Arafat sent him last week, but he did not reveal the details, reported AP.
After Israel exposed the alleged smuggling attempt, Powell demanded that Yasser Arafat admit responsibility for the operation and said the Palestinian chief should have known about it.
On Wednesday, Powell called upon Arafat again to make arrests and said suspects should not be allowed to avoid long detention through "revolving doors" policies. Arafat continuously has denied knowledge of the smuggling attempt.
Meanwhile, Powell also told a House appropriations subcommittee that Syria is developing new weapons, however, not as aggressively as Iraq, Iran and North Korea, the three countries that US President George W. Bush has labeled an "axis of evil", during his State of the Union speech last month.
"We are quite knowledgeable what they are doing," Powell said. "We take this into account."
He also raised the possibility that Syria and Israel could renew peace talks if the Israelis and Palestinians make progress toward peace.
White House
In a separate development, White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said the Palestinian Authority was a source of concern to the U.S. President in his global campaign against terrorism.
"The president has always been very clear, in all the statements he's made, whether it was about North Korea or Iran or Iraq, or anywhere, Palestinian Authority, that it's the people that the United States is concerned with, that they are victims of regimes that invite terrorism and then practice terrorism," Fleischer said.
In possibly the harshest US indictment to date, Ari Fleischer on Wednesday grouped the Palestinian Authority with Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, and said the Palestinian people are victims of a regime that "practices terrorism."
His remarks appeared to heighten the level of US criticism of the Palestinian Authority to new dimensions. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
