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US Responsible for Israeli F-16 Attacks-Palestinians
JEURSALEM, May 19 (Islamonline & News Agencies) - Calls that the US was partly to blame for Israel's excessive use of force in the occupied Palestinian territories resurfaced Saturday after Israel used American-made F-16 aircraft to target Palestinian facilities Friday killing at least 12 Palestinians and injuring dozens others.
Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Saturday the United States was "primarily responsible for the escalation of Israeli aggression" against the Palestinians.
"The United Sates of America is to be held primarily responsible for the escalation of Israeli aggression against our people," Abed Rabbo said in a statement. "Israel's military attack yesterday would not have taken place without the prior notification of the US administration."
Other Palestinian officials have also reportedly said that the US was partly responsible for the Israeli attack that involved the use of sophisticated Washington-supplied warplanes for the first time since Israel occupied Palestinian territories in 1967.
Clearly angered by Israel's use of the aircraft, which resulted in huge damages and a high loss of lives in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Ramallah, the former mayor of Nablus, Mohammed Awad, told the BBC Arabic Service that the US was the main supplier of arms to Israel and that Washington gave "the green light" for the operation.
Anti-American sentiment has been running high in the Muslim and Arab worlds due to a general belief that there is a "blind American bias" towards Israel. The US failed to condemn Israel for atrocities against Palestinian protestors during United Nations Security Council meetings over the past few months.
Israeli Channel Two showed Israeli analysts Friday night saying that there was an understanding between the US and Israel that Israel has the right to "up the ante" by escalating its military response to the ongoing Palestinian uprising.
Analysts said that a statement by the US Department of State Spokesperson a few weeks ago was a go-ahead for Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to take a tougher line towards the Palestinians. The spokesperson said that Washington will do little to stop Israel in case it took more serious means against the Palestinians.
The Intifada broke out in September to protest Israeli encroachment on Muslim holy sites and has since claimed the lives of more than 560 Palestinians, mostly children and teenagers, Western news agencies say. Palestinian officials say the number of casualties is higher.
Palestinians say that despite of the tragic incident the operation was an Israeli failure as it did not succeed in terminating a leading member of the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas. Abu Hunnud, one of the leaders of the armed branch of Hamas, was only injured in the attack. The movement claimed responsibility for a bombing Friday inside Israel that left at least six dead and 100 wounded.
Israel said it was reacting to the martyr operation. Hamas, however, said it was in turn reacting to Israeli killings of Palestinian civilians and targeting refugee camps. The group has promised Saturday again to carry more operations inside Israel.
Also on Saturday, a Palestinian police officer at a West Bank checkpoint near Jenin was shot to death by assailants in a car that sped away toward Israel, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli army said it was checking the report.
In Cairo, angry reaction to the military escalation continued. An influential columnist Salama Ahmed Salama said Washington has created "suspicions" around its intentions in the Middle East for its failure to come up with a clear policy towards the strategically important region.
Two months ago a group of influential Islamic scholars at al-Azhar University, Islam's most prestigious bastion of learning, urged Muslims to "boycott American and Zionist products" in a bid to stop Israeli atrocities against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Territories.
The general feeling in the Muslim world is that if it were not for American political, economic and military backing, Israel would not have resorted to excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians.
Calls in mosques and on the Internet came out in favor of a boycott of American goods and products. Demonstrators in different parts of the Muslim world noted that the Israelis are using American weapons including American-made helicopters, rockets and boats.
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