Israel deflected a second call by US President Bush to end its West
Bank offensive "without delay," instead pushing farther into
Palestinian areas on Sunday as part of a continued military
campaign against Palestinian militants.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, calling the conflict "a war for our
homes," promised to expedite Israel's offensive, but he gave no
time frame, and it was unclear whether the fighting would end by
the time Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives this week.
Chances that the offensive would rest in time for Powell's visit
were weakened when the Israeli army said Sunday its aim to crush
the Palestinian "terror" network could not be achieved that
quickly.
"If the time [for the operation] ends at the end of this week, we
won't be able to finish the job, period," Israeli army Maj. Gen.
Dan Harel said of the 10-day-old West Bank offensive, which began
after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 27 people at a hotel
Passover meal. "It takes time."
"Now, everybody wants us to get out of the territories," Harel
said. "If we do [it] too soon, then another series of terror
attacks will hit Israel's cities and streets, and then we'll go in
[again]."
Friction Within Israel
With international pressure mounting, there were hints of friction
between the Israeli government and its military command. Officers
sought more time for the West Bank military operation, but Cabinet
ministers talked of bringing it to an end.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the military should
operate as long as possible to "clean out terrorism" in the West
Bank, but acknowledged that in light of Bush's demand, "our
hourglass is running out."
However, the army's Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz told the
Cabinet he needed eight weeks to complete the job, according to
Israel Radio.
"The critical element is time," he said later in a briefing to
reporters. "We need time to get to all the centers of terrorism in
the West Bank and Gaza."
At
the beginning of the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, Sharon defended
the offensive, calling it "a war for our homes."
"We have no interest in dragging it out, but we have to do the
job," Sharon told Israel TV.
UN
Emergency Session
The UN Security Council went into emergency consultations on
Sunday, at the request of Tunisia, to discuss Israeli incursions
into the Palestinian towns of Jenin and Nablus, a UN spokesman
said.
The council has been meeting on the Middle East crisis virtually
every day for the past 10 days. Three resolutions have been adopted
in the last month, prompting Arab nations to try for a fourth,
diplomats said.
In
Washington on Saturday, Bush demanded the pullback "without delay,"
but Sharon stopped short of promising an immediate end to an
operation in which scores of Palestinians and more than a dozen
Israeli troops have been killed.
Amid mounting European and Arab calls for Israel to end the
assaults and withdraw, Bush - who had put much of the onus on
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to stop the violence - has
toughened his message to Sharon.
On
the Sunday-morning talk show circuit, Powell, who spoke with Sharon
earlier in the day, said Israel understood Bush's call for
withdrawal, though the Israeli prime minister gave no timetable for
action.
"The president doesn't give orders to a sovereign prime minister of
another country," Powell said on Sunday. "But as one of Israel's
best friends and most supportive friends, I think Prime Minister
Sharon has taken very much to heart and he understands clearly the
message the president gave to him."
Powell was cautiously optimistic about his chances to stem the
violence during his trip.
Powell Diplomacy
"I'm not going to come back at the end of this trip with a peace
treaty in hand. I'm not even sure I'll have a cease-fire in hand.
But that will be my goal, to try to help both sides out of this
tragic situation in which they find themselves," Powell said.
Powell warned on Sunday that Israel could destroy advances it has
made in relations with Arab states with the continuing offensive.
During his trip, Powell will call on Arab states to take a bigger
role in pressuring Arafat to fight terrorism and to stop their own
inflammatory rhetoric.
"We need more responsible statements coming out of Arab capitals,"
he said. "We need all Arab leaders to act responsibly in this time
of crisis."
At
Powell's first stop, Morocco, he planned meetings Monday with King
Mohammed VI and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. He then heads to Egypt
to see President Hosni Mubarak, and to Spain for talks with U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov
and European leaders.
'I
Will Try to See Arafat'
However, Powell could not say conclusively if he would meet with
Arafat, though he appeared to be open to a meeting with him.
"I
will try to see Arafat, if circumstances permit, as well as seeing
other Palestinian leaders," Powell said. "We have to see both sides
or we will never get to any peace plan."
On
Saturday, Saeb Erekat, a top Palestinian negotiator, said
Palestinian officials would not meet Powell during his visit if he
refused to meet Arafat.
At
the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, the Israeli government
praised the army's offensive. "The prime minister pointed out that
a difficult campaign is under way, and that much has been
achieved," said a statement issued by Sharon's office.
The statement made no mention of withdrawing the troops, saying
only: "Israel is maintaining a policy of preventing injury to
civilians, something which makes the operation more difficult and
drawn out."
End to Jenin Battle?
Meanwhile, an Israeli army official said Sunday that the fighting
would be over soon in Jenin, where soldiers have met fierce
resistance from Palestinians in recent days, but Israel pressed
ahead with its offensive elsewhere in the West Bank.
"In Jenin, we are at the verge of ending the fighting in the
refugee camp," Brig. Gen. Ron Kitrey said. "The resistance there
was very tough, perhaps tougher than estimated."
Kitrey made clear, however, that troops will not pull out of the
refugee camp in Jenin once fighting ends.
"We will try to search for the wanted militants, their homes, their
bases, the armories and explosives stores," Kitrey said. "The
operation will take time, as long as needed."
Abdel Salaam, a leader of the militant group Hamas, said residents
have been confined to lower levels of their homes because tank and
missile fire has made the upper floors too unsafe. Food and
supplies were running low, he said.
"Nobody can move out of his house to see what has happened to his
neighbor," said Abdel Salaam, reached on his mobile phone. "We are
talking to each other through windows only when the shelling stops,
and we hear some stories from each other through this kind of
connection - each one tells his neighbor."
In
Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank, an Israeli field
commander said his troops had killed more than 30-armed
Palestinians in fierce fighting with militants, and armed
Palestinians in the market area of the city refused to give
themselves up to Israeli troops. Palestinians said the battles left
four Palestinians dead.
"We have found explosives laboratories, including one which was
very advanced and well equipped, with a production line from the
raw materials to the finished product," said Israeli Col. Aviv
Kochavi, head of the paratroops brigade.
Fire from Lebanon
Attacks from Hizballah guerrillas along Israel's border with
Lebanon injured six Israeli soldiers Sunday. Civilians in nearby
towns were ordered into bomb shelters for an hour on Sunday.
The fighting has raised fears of a new front opening up in the
Mideast conflict, as Israel presses its military offensive in
Palestinian cities.
Sharon said the clashes "could perhaps lead to a very big outbreak"
as Israel responded with tanks, artillery and air strikes. Lebanese
witnesses said Hizballah guerrillas fired a shoulder-launched
missile at an Israeli jet.
"The Lebanese claim we are attacking but it's Hizballah who are
trying to heat things up, draw us in. We have tried our best to sit
back but this can't last much longer," an Israeli military
spokesman said.
International Pressure
Amid the violence, the international community kept pressure on
both sides to agree to end the latest bloodshed:
Pope John Paul urged Palestinians and Israelis on Sunday to free
themselves from the "thirst for vendetta" and return to the
negotiating table. The Pope led Roman Catholics around the world in
prayers for peace in the Middle East as details emerged of a
proposal by Vatican diplomats in the Holy Land to end a standoff at
the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
The Spanish foreign minister said on Sunday the European Union
would discuss introducing possible sanctions against Israel if it
went on rejecting calls for a cease-fire. Josep Pique also said the
EU would weigh sanctions against the Palestinian Authority "if it
makes less than 100 percent effort to fight terrorism" against
Israel.
(China
Daily April 8, 2002)