The unprecedented escalation of the Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation and the excessive use of force on the part of the Israelis in retaliation for that have cast shadow over an expected meeting between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
The official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported that a Palestinian policeman was killed overnight and four others were injured by Israeli tank fire near Jenin in the West Bank.
Four other police officers were injured, one seriously, in the attack which killed Fa’ek Abu Syam, Palestinian medical sources said.
An Israeli military spokesman said that Israeli tanks had fired missiles at a building housing Palestinian security offices and at a roadblock in the area.
"This attack was decided upon following the series of bombings on Sunday and the army will do whatever is necessary to assure the security of Israeli civilians and troops," the spokesman said in a statement, cited by AFP.
Two suicide bombings in Israel and an armed attack by Palestinian resistance fighters in the West Bank on Sunday left seven people dead, including the two bombers, and 42 others injured.
Israel's security cabinet decided late Sunday to intensify the "targeted attacks" against Palestinian targets, public television reported.
Israeli security sources estimate that there would be more Israeli retaliatory steps against Sunday's attacks, said Haaretz newspaper.
During a four-hour meeting in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected the idea of large-scale operations in the Palestinian territories, deciding that their usefulness was doubtful while they would provoke more international criticism, according to the television report.
Israeli helicopters attacked Palestinian Authority targets in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Jericho on Sunday afternoon in retaliation for attacks earlier Sunday.
The helicopters hit an office of Fateh movement on the outskirts of Ramallah, causing heavy damage.
In Jericho, an installation belonging to the PA general intelligence was targeted.
Palestinians reported several people lightly injured by shrapnel in the Jericho strike. Both buildings were empty at the time of the attack, said earlier reports.
Two hours later, helicopter gunships fired missiles at the governor's building in Ramallah, said Haaretz.
Also, Israeli ground forces fired anti-tank missiles at a Palestinian police roadblock in Nablus.
Helicopters also attacked Palestinian targets in Qabatiya near Jenin.
Meanwhile, Israel has flatly rejected an offer by Arafat for immediate truce talks with Peres, Israel Radio reported Monday, cited by Haaretz.
It said that the Palestinian Authority had proposed that the two hold talks Monday in Cairo.
It added that both the Palestinian offer and the Israeli rejection were tied to the three Sunday attacks, one of which was carried by an Arab Israeli.
But the radio said that a Peres-Arafat meeting, which has been discussed by both sides for weeks but has been repeatedly postponed - often in the wake of Israeli-Palestinian unrest - could still take place within a few days, according to the paper.
The report came as aides to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon voiced doubts as to the wisdom of holding the meeting at a period of “continuing terrorism.”
They said Sharon himself had once supported Peres-Arafat talks aimed at a cease-fire, but had now changed his mind.
One political source old the paper Sunday, "even the bait of talks with Peres didn't cause Arafat to alter his ways. One would expect that the chance for talks with the foreign minister would have led him to take steps to rein in and halt [attacks]. But instead he chose to give orders to the various factions of his coalition to step up the terror."
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
