Israel, PA cool to Bush initiative

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA, OCT. 3. Both the Palestinians and the Israelis have reacted coolly to the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, statement endorsing the idea of a Palestinian state.

Mr. Bush's views are currently of academic interest mainly because he has said that any U.S. initiatives in this regard must await an end to the violence. Though considerably reduced, the violence continues with a Hamas suicide attack on a Jewish settlement in Gaza yesterday inviting an Israeli attack on Palestinian police posts today.

A teenage Israeli soldier and her boyfriend were killed and 15 others, including a baby, injured when Palestinian gunmen infiltrated the settlement in the northern Gaza strip late last evening and opened fire. Two gunmen took shelter in a house and most of the injuries were reported to have been caused in the exchange of fire with the Israeli troops who surrounded them. The gun men were shot dead and Hamas today released a video-clip which showed them reading their message before proceeding on their mission. In retaliation, Israeli tanks fired shells at a Palestinian police post near the settlement. Three Palestinian policemen were reported to have been killed.

The Palestinian Authority President, Mr. Yasser Arafat, condemned the attack on the settlement and has ordered his security forces to crack down on those who planned the attack or were preparing for more such action. The Authority also claimed that the Hamas gunmen had slipped past Israeli security cordons besides their own. However, Israel has accused the Palestinian Authority of having abetted the attacks by not doing enough to apprehend those prepared to carry out attacks on Israel. Israel's Security Cabinet which met last night has also warned that it could revive the assassination policy if the Authority does not institute a crack-down on militant groups.

Mr. Arafat had ordered a complete cease-fire soon after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the U.S. Israel too had said that it was suspending military operations against the Palestinians. Mr. Arafat met Israel's Foreign Minister, Mr. Shimon Peres, and both sides had agreed to strengthen the cease- fire.

There has been a drastic reduction in the levels of violence since then but sporadic clashes have continued all along. Over a dozen Palestinians have been killed in these clashes and several Israelis have also been killed in attacks by Palestinian militants.

Hamas and Islamic Jehad had rejected Mr. Arafat's cease-fire call and Hamas has said that last night's attacks were in specific retaliation for the deaths since the Arafat-Peres meeting.

Israel had declared that it would begin listing restrictions on the movement of Palestinians and ease the closure of their towns and villages if there was peace over a twenty-four hour period. According to the Israeli media, their Security Cabinet was preparing to act on these lines till yesterday's attack. Israel's Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, had also announced yesterday that while his country was prepared to co- operate with efforts to build an international coalition against terror, they would not remain quiet so as to ``appease'' the Arabs if their own citizens continued to be killed.

Developments over yesterday and today have dampened whatever enthusiasm could have been generated by Mr. Bush's comments. The U.S. President was reacting to a story in The New York Times when he said that a Palestinian state had always been a part of the U.S. vision for the future of the West Asia. The newspaper had reported that the U.S. administration was about to endorse the idea of a Palestinian state and that the Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, would make a major announcement on the U.S. policy on Israel-Palestine relations at the U.N. General Assembly.

Yesterday, however, Mr. Bush made clear that any U.S. initiative will be contingent on both sides putting an end to the violence.

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Section  : International
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