Two settlers were stabbed Wednesday evening in an attack in the West Bank settlement of Nahliel, north of Ramallah. One of the two, who were both in a caravan at the time of the attack, was in critical condition and the second was moderately wounded.
Israel Radio reported that Israeli troops were searching the area for two attackers, who fled the scene after the stabbing.
Meanwhile, Italy's foreign ministry said it had called in the Israeli ambassador to demand a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the killing of an Italian photographer by Israeli troops in the West Bank.
Israel's ambassador to Rome, Ehud Gol, was called in by the ministry to explain the circumstances surrounding the killing of Raffaele Ciriello, who was covering the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the ministry was quoted as saying by AFP.
Israeli Cabinet
The Israeli army will continue its aggressive operations in Ramallah even after the arrival of U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni on Thursday, according to an understanding between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer.
According to Haaretz, Sharon and Ben-Eliezer reached an agreement on this issue in a private conversation Wednesday after they engaged in verbal sparring during a cabinet meeting over the effectiveness of the large-scale Israeli offensive in Ramallah, which led at one point to Ben-Eliezer threatening to quit.
Sharon means for the operations in Ramallah and in the territories in general to continue - in accordance with his original plan - until the arrival of Vice President Richard Cheney in Israel at the outset of next week.
A furious Sharon attacked the defense minister for having unilaterally decided to call a halt to a number of elements of the Israeli operations in Ramallah, Army Radio reported after the meeting. These elements, which Ben-Eliezer apparently moved to curtail ahead of Zinni's arrival, included air strikes by F-16 warplanes and the possible take-over of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's office and central Ramallah.
According to the radio, Sharon accused the defense minister of "acting against the opinion of the security cabinet," a reference to last week's cabinet decision to keep "continuous" military pressure on the Palestinians.
Ben-Eliezer replied that he was "the one that makes the decisions and directs the fighting." He also threatened to "resign from the government" if he were not allowed to "continue to act in this capacity."
"Don't threaten me," Sharon countered. "If you want to leave the government, leave. Let's take a vote, we'll see who's right, who's responsible for taking the decisions, you or me."
White House
The White House called on Israel and the Palestinians to avoid violence that threatens the success of Zinni in order to help him to create a lasting ceasefire.
"No party should act in any way that makes that objective harder to achieve," spokesman Scott McClellan said a day before retired Marine general Anthony Zinni was expected to arrive in Israel. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
