Barak to form emergency Cabinet

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (BAHRAIN), OCT. 13. All the atavistic rages and hatreds of West Asia have been revived in full force following the lynching of two Israeli soldiers and the rocket attacks on high-profile Palestinian targets yesterday. The slide towards intensified antagonism is being sped with the moves to form a national emergency Cabinet in Israel and the reported release of Hamas militants by the Palestinian Authority. There is a prospect of worse to come today as the Palestinians observe a ``Day of Rage''. Amid all this, the efforts to get the various leaders together appear desperate.

Yesterday, Israeli helicopter gun ships fired rockets on select Palestinian targets in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The police station, where the two Israeli soldiers were killed by a mob, was completely destroyed as was a Palestinian T.V. station that was reported to have made incendiary broadcasts during the two weeks over which riots have been raging. Rockets were also fired on a security shed just about 50 metres from the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority President, Mr. Yasser Arafat while he was inside his offices. But the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud Barak has clarified that there was no intention to target Mr. Arafat personally. Palestinian police compounds in Nablus and Jericho were also attacked, the latter after a synagogue in the town was set ablaze, and the port in Gaza was also hit.

After yesterday's incidents, Israel has sealed off the entire Gaza Strip and ringed the Palestinian towns with tanks. International crossing points between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and between the West Bank and Jordan have also been closed. In effect, the Palestinians have been put into separate geographical boxes with Israeli military helicopters hovering overhead. Despite this ominous military ring around them, Palestinian militants have called for a ``Day of rage'' today.

Till the time of noon prayers there were only reports of isolated stone- throwing. But there is every possibility that the Palestinian youth will resume their confrontations with the Israeli security forces later in the day.

An already tense atmosphere has been further exacerbated with reports that the Palestinian Authority has released from custody a large number of Hamas militants, including experts in bomb- making and terror attacks. These reports have to be treated with scepticism at the moment since the information has been provided by Israeli security men who appear to have been spreading rumors or slanting the news for some unknown reason.

Mr. Amira Haas, the intrepid Jewish correspondent of Haaretz, who lives and reports from within the Arab community, had recently given a report of how Israeli security men had painted the release of some Hamas members as a sinister move by the Palestinian Authority when, in fact, they had been released because their terms of imprisonment were actually over.

The slide toward an ending of the peace process has been speeded up with Mr. Barak's invitation to the Opposition, including Mr. Ariel Sharon, the man who provoked these disturbances, to join a national emergency government. Mr. Barak has hinted that he expects such a government to be formed in the next four or five days. At the moment this could still be treated as a bluff intended to pressure the Palestinian leadership since Mr. Barak has refused to entertain the Opposition's condition that he must repudiate all offer he has thus far made to the Palestinians before they join the Cabinet.

While the tensions on the ground have captured everyone's attention for the obvious reasons, there also appears to be some desperate games of brinkmanship being played by the leaders of both sides. It is as if the leaders on both sides are aware that they will eventually have to meet and talk and are trying to ensure that they have the stronger card when they sit at the table. Mr. Barak has said that he would attend the four or five- way summit that the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton would like the Egyptian President, Mr. Hosni Mubarak to host at Sharm al Sheikh if Mr. Arafat agrees that the U.S. proposals (presented after the Camp David talks in July) are made the basis of negotiations.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Krishan Kant to attend Sirimavo funeral
Next     : Clinton not to attend summit