Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that his country "is at war" and would strike relentlessly at “terrorists”.
Only then would a cease-fire be possible, Sharon said in a brief televised address explaining Israel's three-day-old military offensive to his people.
Sharon said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was "the enemy of Israel and the free world in general" and was directing a campaign of “terrorism” against the Jewish state. "We cannot compromise with those who are ready ... to die only to kill innocent civilians," Sharon said in his five-minute speech.
The operation launched Friday morning, he said, aimed at "hitting the foundations of terror". "We must fight against this terrorism, fight with no compromise, pull up these wild plants by the roots, smash their infrastructure, because there is no compromise with terrorism," Sharon said. "This terrorism is used, directed and initiated by one man: Yasser Arafat." The Palestinian leader, he added, was "a threat to stability in the Middle East."
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the speech as "void of substance, void of hope, void of realism." "I think Sharon slammed the door tonight in the face of all of those who are trying to de-escalate," he told The Associated Press. "What he said about President Arafat is admittance that his endgame is to destroy the peace process, destroy the Palestinian Authority and kill President Arafat."
In his speech, Sharon argued that Israel had tried to reach a cease-fire during last week's mediation effort by U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni. "The answer was terror, terror and more terror," he said; therefore, a cease-fire would now be possible only after "terror is eradicated."
He said Israel was at a crossroads in its history, but did not say how long the military offensive — now underway in Ramallah and expected to expand to other parts of the West Bank and Gaza — would last.
Meanwhile, it was reported that the Israeli army was building up forces on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Qalqilyah, Sunday evening. Palestinians said that the city's electricity had been cut off. The Israeli forces were expected to enter the city later Sunday.
Also Sunday, a group of some 40 peace activists from around the world skirted round the Israeli tanks surrounding Arafat's compound, managing to enter it and meet with Arafat. The activists and reporters ignored the Israeli soldiers' orders to stop and troops fired warning shots in the air.
Israel’s Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz was very critical of the incident, criticizing the "violent infiltration of left-wing activists into the compound," stressing that they had violated the order declaring the area a closed military zone.
Arafat, besieged by Israeli forces at his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah, told foreign visitors that the Palestinians are "in urgent need of international forces." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
