Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returned Monday morning from Washington, and is reportedly meeting with his security cabinet to consider a response to the weekend Hamas attacks that killed scores of Israelis. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet is also gathering in Ramallah, sources told Albawaba.com.
Upon returning, Sharon immediately convened an urgent session of his kitchen cabinet at a military base in the center of the country, the first in a series of high-level consultations over possible military moves that - if cabinet hardliners hold sway - could overthrow Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, according to Haaretz newspaper.
At 8:00pm Sharon is to convene the full cabinet - under the heading of "the subcommittee for defense affairs" - to debate harsh measures in response to the attacks.
Sources at the Palestinian presidency said that Arafat was heading a cabinet meeting in Ramallah, amid a state of emergency and a crackdown on members of hardline Palestinian movements.
According to the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz, defense officials are expected to present a range of detailed proposals for stepping up army attacks on territory under PA control. A senior official in Sharon's entourage said the ouster of Arafat would be among the options the cabinet would discuss.
"Arafat is the one responsible for the strategy of terrorism and the coalition of terror that he built. He also finances terrorist organizations," the official said. "Israel is in a war in which Israel stands on one side and, on the other stands Arafat, responsible for what is taking place."
The Palestinians, who are mounting a rebellion against 34 years of Israeli military occupation, have suffered over 700 deaths, while the Israelis have lost more than 200 people.
According to a recent Haaretz tally, over 2,000 Israelis have been wounded in the latest uprising, while between 8,500 and 10,000 Palestinians have been wounded.
The Palestinians are hoping to liberate land that has been occupied since 1967, and settled by Israel in violation of international law.
According to the UK-based magazine The Economist, Israel has "flouted" the 1993 Oslo peace accords by settling thousands of its citizens in the Occupied Territories.
SHARON PROMISES TOUGH MEASURES
Sharon told US President George W. Bush on Sunday that Israel no longer expected Arafat to deal with terrorism, and that "Israel will act against those who perpetuate terror and those who send them on their missions."
At their meeting at the White House, Sharon told the president that Israel held Arafat directly accountable for the recent wave of terror attacks in Israel.
Bush told Sharon that he was demanding immediate and wide-ranging action against terror from Arafat.
This includes the immediate arrest of those responsible for terror attacks, as well as action against terror organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
A senior diplomatic source said that "there was not even the slightest disagreement between the two" during the meeting. He said that Sharon did not give the president any details on how Israel plans to react, but informed him that Israel intends to step-up its operations.
Palestinians have long been skeptical of US bids to broker peace in the region, given the billions in military and civilian aid Washington provides to Tel Aviv each year, as well as repeated US moves to bar international observers from monitoring ceasefires in the territories.
CRACKDOWN TIME
Palestinian security forces are reported to have arrested about 75 members of the radical Islamic groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which said it carried out the attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa.
The BBC's Jeremy Cooke in Jerusalem says the PA is trying to convince both the Israelis and the outside world that it is finally making a serious effort to bring the extremists under control.
He says the arrests of militants in the West Bank and Gaza have happened before, only for those detained to be released after a few days.
This time the Israelis will demand that things are different, and so the Palestinian leadership faces a difficult, perhaps impossible task, says Cooke.
The latest attacks began on Saturday night when 10 young Israelis and two suicide bombers were killed in Jerusalem, said the BBC. Hours later, at least 15 people were killed when a bus was ripped apart by a bomb in the port of Haifa.
In the wake of the attacks, Israeli hardliners began calling for the "removal" of the Palestinian leader, according to AP.
The urgings come in spite of Israeli army reports that Arafat's PA is already on the verge of collapse in the Gaza Strip due to the economic stranglehold the Jewish state has kept on Palestinians for several months.
The army analysts warned last month that the PA could be replaced by a massive, desperation-fueled popular uprising against Israel's 34-year occupation of Palestinian land - a charge echoed by more moderate Israeli leaders.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP that 90 militants had been arrested, including senior Hamas leaders Ismail Abu Shanab and Ismail Haniya. Security chief Jibril Rajoub said those involved in the bombings “would pay the price.” – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
