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Israel Vows Further Escalation Against Palestinians
JERUSALEM, Aug 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel's incursion into the autonomous West Bank city of Hebron means Israel will further increase its military operations against the Palestinians, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said Friday.
In an interview with Israeli public television, Ben Eliezer called Israel's heavy-handed military crackdown on Palestinian protestors "a show of restraint" and said that his country will not follow such a policy.
Eliezer, a member of one of Israel's most radical cabinets, did not elaborate on what the Jewish state would do next, but several observers in the region say that Israel may be planning another regional war, with U.S. blessings.
He indicated that the army had made long preparations for the Hebron incursion; similar to ones it made for a raid on Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, which was aborted at the last minute on August 14, following criticism from the U.S.
But, he said the Israeli army "has no intention of conquering the Abu Sneina section of Hebron," which was occupied for several hours overnight.
"The Palestinians must know that we will not sit with our arms crossed while they shoot at us or send kamikaze, the minister said of resistance occupation operations.
But the head of the Israeli forces in the West Bank, General Gershon Yitzhak, also told television that if "shots continue to [be] fired at Jewish [occupation] residents, the army will have no other choice but to occupy [Palestinian] sectors."
The occupation army dynamited two houses and wounded 12 people in the incursion, one of its deepest into Palestinian territory since the Intifada (uprising) erupted in late September over Jewish encroachments on Muslim holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.
Around 400 Jewish settlers are secluded by a heavy army force in the center of the Arab city of Hebron (al-Khalil), situated within a Palestinian population of some 120,000.
Earlier this month, Israeli tanks also invaded Jenin, in the northern West Bank, and stayed for several hours; long enough to destroy a Palestinian police station, which the Israeli army claims was reprise for an anti-occupation activist who injured 15 people in bombing in Haifa in northern Israel.
Meanwhile, some 50,000 people demonstrated here Friday to commemorate the July 31 assassinations by Israel of four members of the Islamic Palestinian movement, Hamas.
The crowd gathered on a vast playground in the center of the West Bank town of Nablus, chanting slogans supporting the "armed battalions" of the anti-occupation groups and calling for revenge.
On July 31, Israeli helicopter gunships launched missiles against a Hamas office in Nablus, killing one of the movement's political leaders and three other alleged activists, two journalists and two children.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres also said Friday that he wants to postpone a meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, which aims to reach a ceasefire agreement.
According to Israeli television, Peres argues that in the current context of violence, chances of an agreement are very slim.
The foreign ministry refused to comment on the information.
Peres said Thursday that no date or place had been decided on for the meeting.
The two men had agreed to hold talks following a mediation effort by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer earlier this week.
Arafat mentioned Berlin as a venue for the meeting but Peres would like to be closer to Israel, according to his entourage.
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