Israel Radio reported Saturday that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had sent a message to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, warning him that the a total closure on Palestinian cities would be imposed if violence continues.
There was no official confirmation of the report, said AFP.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer announced Friday that some of the blockade measures would be relaxed, ahead of Sharon's visit to the United States, which has urged Israel to ease the blockade on the Palestinian territories.
Some 500 Palestinian businessmen will be allowed to enter Israel, the Allenby Bridge crossing point between Jordan and the West Bank will be reopened during the day and trucks will be allowed to transit through it after security checks, a defense ministry statement said.
Goods will also be allowed into the Palestinian territories through the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which Palestinians will also be allowed to use for urgent medical cases requiring treatment in Egypt.
The Sufa and Karni crossing points between the Gaza Strip and Israel will also be reopened to goods and raw materials
Meanwhile, Haaretz newspaper reported Saturday that Sharon’s visit to the US aims at persuading the US administration that the Palestinians are to blame for the hostilities, said reports.
According to the paper, Sharon plans to tell the Americans that he is drawing a distinction between the Palestinian Authority, which he holds responsible for the violence and which he intends treating harshly, and the civilian population in the territories for whom he would like to ease conditions as much as possible.
Sharon plans to present Bush with evidence that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is encouraging and directing "terror," Haaretz added.
One of Sharon's concerns ahead of the visit, is what appears to be a US effort to link the situation in the territories to the Iraqi front - a policy that could result in pressure on Israel, according to the Israeli paper. Continued violence in the West Bank and Gaza, or further deterioration, the US believes, is likely to make it more difficult for it to cobble together an anti-Saddam coalition in the Middle East.
Israel Radio quoted senior diplomatic sources in Jerusalem on Friday as saying that Sharon will endeavor to sever this linkage during his upcoming trip.
Meanwhile, the paper said that Sharon also intends to ask Bush to step up sanctions on Syria by imposing the full range of punitive measures that exist under American law regarding states that support "terror."
"Government sources in Jerusalem said that Sharon's decision to ask the US to increase its pressure on Syria was due largely to the fact that Syrian support for Hizbollah has increased under President Bashar Assad beyond the level that existed during the tenure of his late father, Hafez Assad," a source told the paper.
He added that Sharon will tell the Americans that Assad's support for Hizbollah threatens the stability of the region, and he will also ask them to press Lebanon to deploy its army in the south, a step it has refrained from taking ever since the Israeli army withdrew in May last year - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
