In a report by Sunday Times and The Associated Press on Monday, it was reported that the Israeli government is plotting to assassinate several of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's closest aides and arrest or deport hundreds of other leading Palestinians.
Quoting security sources, the report said that the initiative follows six months of violence that has claimed 454 lives. The plans, details of which emerged last week, came as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the Israeli army's paratroop Battalion 202 to take up position around Hebron, “the most rebellious of the Palestinian cities,” according to the sources.
Sharon was cited by The Jerusalem Post as saying that that his government does not have a "policy of restraint," and that it is guided by “a desire to strike at the terrorists and those who dispatch them.”
The Sunday Times said that many Israelis were disappointed at what they saw as a mild response by Sharon to three Palestinian bomb attacks in less than 24 hours last week.
Sharon retaliated by launching an attack with helicopter gunships on Force 17, Arafat's personal security force, killing two of its members and a Palestinian woman. Israel followed the assault with kidnapping six Force 17 members, including a regional commander, in Jilijiyeh, north of Ramallah, which is under full Palestinian control.
But Israeli sources insisted this was only the beginning, said the Times. They said Sharon had ordered the army and security services to draw up plans to kill senior Arafat lieutenants. Sources close to Sharon were quoted as saying he was confident tough measures against the Palestinian leader would force him to resume peace negotiations.
Sharon has pledged to "continue to strike those who attack us and those who send them.” The sources said Sharon would not target Arafat himself.
However, Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi demanded at a cabinet meeting Sunday that Arafat’s residence be bombed, but some of his colleagues criticized his proposal as going too far.
In response, President Arafat’s Advisor Nabil Abu Rodaina said that the Israeli government is fully responsible for “the loose Israeli Tourism Minister, Rehavam Ze’evi threatening the Palestinian leadership.”
Abu Rodaina, quoted by Palestinian news agency (WAFA) demanded the Israeli government “to stop these actions which add to the tension and anxiety and do not serve peace.”
The decision to target the upper echelons of President Arafat's staff is part of a broader plan to eliminate terrorism that Sharon is expected to start implementing this week. Proposals include the temporary seizure of sensitive Palestinian areas such as Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, and the Abu Sneina quarter of Hebron, in operations to capture terrorists believed to be sheltered there, said the report.
In an attempt to expose what they call "Arafat's corruption,” the Israelis also are planning to reveal details of secret bank accounts and the fortunes they claim his staff have accumulated in the six years since their return from Tunis to the Palestinian territories – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
