|
Israel Continues Onslaught in Territories
WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli forces launched a second day of sustained assaults against Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip and throughout the West Bank, as Washington called upon embattled Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to rein in Palestinian resistance groups who yesterday killed 10 Israelis and wounded 30 more.
In the Gaza Strip, U.S.-made Israeli F-16s and helicopters gunships bombed and strafed Arafat's compound and a nearby police headquarters in Gaza City. There was no information on possible casualties. Arafat was in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Israeli has restricted the Palestinian leader's movements.
In Ramallah, at least one Palestinian was killed as Israeli Apache helicopters launched raids on several targets linked to Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian sources reported that a Palestinian man identified as Ahmad Muhammed al-Daneasy, 26, was killed in the Ramallah attack. The raid brought power down in Ramallah and in its twin city, El Bireh.
Palestinian sources said earlier in the day that Israeli occupation forces had also entered and searched the home of West Bank Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti in northern Ramallah, while his wife and children were present. Barghouti was not in the house at the time.
According to sources, Barghouti's family was placed in a room in the house during the search, but were allowed to use the phone.
"Despite the fear, I will continue in my struggle for the Palestinian people," said Barghouti, Channel 1 television reported Thursday evening.
West Bank residents also told IslamOnline that Israeli ground forces had overnight re-occupied portions of Ramallah, including the neighborhoods of Tel Anabta and A-Tira. During the mission Israeli missiles hit the main transmitter of the Palestinian Authority's radio station, knocking it off the air.
Palestinian sources reported that Israeli tanks had taken up positions just some 200 meters from Arafat's office, and also fired at positions held by Arafat's elite Force 17 guard on Ramallah's outskirts. Later, Israeli bulldozers destroyed the building housing the radio station and a large antenna.
Armored Israeli forces were reported to have re-occupied the Palestinian-ruled towns of Jenin and Tulkarem as well. Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers took up positions on the streets of Palestinian towns and cities, as Israeli troops told residents by megaphone that they had been placed under a military curfew.
The current Israeli military campaign came hours after the government or hardline Prime Minister Ariel Sharon severed ties with the Palestinian Authority. An Israeli spokesman declared that Arafat was "irrelevant" and no longer its partner in the Middle East peace process.
Meanwhile, in Washington, senior U.S. officials questioned Yasser Arafat's credibility as Palestinian leader Thursday, and stepped up demands he end the anti-Israel violence that has rocked the Middle East.
Arafat and other P.A. officials condemned Wednesday's attacks in Israel. The Al-Aqsa Brigades of Arafat's own Fatah movement and the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, took responsibility for the bus ambush near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Emmanuel, and another attack near the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip.
Israel rejected the condemnation and claimed that Arafat was directly responsible for the attacks. Israeli spokesman complained that Arafat has had enough time to crackdown on Palestinian groups and vowed that its forces would end attacks against its people.
So far, Washington has supported its closest ally in the region. Senior U.S. officials said U.S. diplomats have advised European countries not to invite or host the increasingly isolated Arafat should he plan to leave the Middle East to lobby for support.
U.S. President George W. Bush "believes that it is incumbent on Arafat to demonstrate in actions and deeds, and not just words, that he will bring the killers to justice," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
Fleischer declined to directly respond to Israel's decision to declare Arafat "irrelevant" and cut ties with the Palestinian Authority.
"The president is aware, of course, of these statements and the president believes very strongly that Arafat needs to demonstrate his desire to achieve peace in the Middle East," the spokesman said.
Other officials, speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on condition of anonymity, said the practical effect of Israel's decision was not yet clear, but added Washington was not pressing Israel to reconsider the move.
"I wouldn't put it that way," one senior official answered when asked if the United States wanted Israel to "step back" from the Arafat decision, which followed a Palestinian attack on a bus Wednesday that killed 10 Israelis. "We're approaching the Palestinians and telling them to step forward."
A second official said U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni, who, since November 26, has been trying in vain to secure a ceasefire between the two parties, would remain in the region "for the time being" despite the worsening situation.
The first official said the U.S. view of the events of the last 24 hours had not fundamentally changed despite the belief held by many in the region that Israel and the Palestinians are close to a full-scale war.
"Arafat needs to lead, he needs to establish credibility to stop the attacks against him and Israel," the official said. "That's the only way he is going to establish credibility as a leader. We are seriously questioning his willingness to take steps to end the violence."
Earlier Thursday, on a visit to Syria, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs William Burns said Washington would continue to deal with Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian people.
In Washington, the officials said Burns' statement was "the U.S. line," but noted serious concerns over further destabilization in the region.
Earlier, United Nations special envoy to the Middle East Terje Roed-Larsen told CNN television, "I think we are close as we've ever been to a full military confrontation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."
European leaders have urged Sharon not to abandon Arafat, who has often toured the continent in times of crisis to build support.
In Cairo, the Arab League called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council as soon as possible to try to find a way to restore peace, but failed to take any other decisive action on its own.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said that after telephone contacts with a majority of Arab League foreign ministers and Arafat, agreement had been reached "to seek the convening as soon as possible of a meeting of the U.N. Security Council."
But Moussa had little else to offer in confronting perhaps the gravest development of the current Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, against Israel's long military occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Since the beginning of the Intifada 15 months ago, 1,086 people have been killed, including 831 Palestinians, most of them teenagers and young children.
|
