NABLUS,
West Bank, March 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – While
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s diplomatic stance may seem
to be softening over the last few days, his army is not translating
his words into solid action.
Sharon
has said that he is willing to talk peace with the Palestinians
before a ceasefire and has said Sunday that he may be willing to
lift the siege on Palestinian president Yasser Arafat.
On
the ground, 50 Israeli army tanks entered the autonomous Palestinian
West Bank town of Qalqilya Sunday evening and on the morning of the
same day, Arafat’s office in Gaza was destroyed by Israeli air
strikes.
The
Israeli occupation army rounded up some 600 Palestinian civilians in
the West Bank refugee camp of Dheishe, near Bethlehem, and 100 more
from a nearby village Monday, an Agence France-Presse (AFP)
correspondent and witnesses said. The 600 were forced to take off
their shirts and jackets and put them in a plastic bag before being
handcuffed and blindfolded, the correspondent said.
Overnight,
the army had urged the male population aged between 15 and 45 to
"gather peacefully" in a schoolyard, saying that they
would be "peacefully released" afterwards. The prisoners
were taken to a nearby warehouse where they were still being
detained. Some 100 more were rounded up in the same conditions in
the nearby autonomous village of Artas, and taken to the same place,
witnesses told AFP.
Two
Palestinians were killed early Monday during an Israeli occupation
army incursion into Qalqilya, medical sources in Nablus said, news
agencies reported.
One of the victims, 22-year-old Attes Abdel Alal, was identified as
a member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's elite bodyguard
Force 17. The second victim, Yussef el Ahra, also 22, was a civilian
whose home was hit by a rocket, the sources said, reported AFP.
They
said four Palestinians were also injured, one seriously, during the
incursion.
The deaths brought the overall toll in the intifada, or Palestinian
uprising which broke out more than 17 months ago, to 1,469,
including 1,133 Palestinians and 332 Israelis.
The
Israeli army also occupied Monday Dheishe refugee camp near
Bethlehem in the West Bank, an Israeli military spokesman said, AFP
reported. The spokesman said the operation was aimed at “arresting
terrorists" and seizing weapons, adding that soldiers had
discovered explosives in a building in the camp.
In
the same sector, the Israeli occupation army destroyed a house in
Beit Jalah were a major quantity of arms and explosives had
allegedly been found, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile,
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Israeli public radio
Monday that Arafat, who has been trapped in the West Bank town of
Ramallah by an army blockade for three months, "will be allowed
in the coming days to travel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."
Peres
was more elusive on whether restrictions would still be imposed on
Arafat’s movements abroad, but he did not rule out him being
allowed to travel to Beirut at the end of the month to attend the
annual Arab summit.
On
Sunday, Sharon said he favored lifting the siege on Arafat, but only
after his forces destroyed Arafat’s headquarters during another
day of bloodshed. Sharon said Arafat had fulfilled the conditions
for an easing of the blockade by arresting “militants” wanted
concerning the assassination of a hardline Israeli minister late
last year. "I said once they were arrested I would let him
leave," Sharon said. "Once you achieve your demands, you
must fulfill your commitments."
Palestinian
secret services on Saturday arrested Majdi Al-Rimawi, the alleged
mastermind from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP) of the assassination of far-right tourism minister Rehavam
Zeevi in an east Jerusalem hotel in October. Four other members of
the PFLP have already been arrested by Palestinian security,
including the two alleged triggermen.
On
Sunday, the Israeli occupation forces killed five Palestinians in
four separate incidents in the West Bank and Gaza, following the
destruction of Arafat's official headquarters in Gaza City.
On
a diplomatic level, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine has
called on Israel to change its policies towards the Palestinians,
asserting Israel’s military onslaught has "only worsened the
situation", reported AFP.
"A
solution can be found with a change in the policy of the Israeli
government. The Israelis have to recognize that the policy they have
carried out to improve security has only worsened the
situation," Vedrine said in an interview published Monday in Le
Parisien newspaper. "It is up to them to take the decision to
change... A policy of repression cannot solve the Palestinian
problem," he said.
Meanwhile,
Arab hopes that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to the
region will yield a clear commitment to calm Israeli-Palestinian
violence may be dashed by Washington's preoccupation with its
anti-terror campaign and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, AFP reported.
Cheney
is scheduled to begin Sunday a tour that will take him to Britain,
Turkey, Israel, and nine Arab countries. He is expected Tuesday in
Amman, Wednesday in Cairo, and will also visit Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and Yemen.
Cheney
himself on Friday played down expectations he could kick start the
stalled Middle East peace process, although that will be a key
component of his trip. "The trip has taken on, I suppose, a
little bit added significance because of the Middle East crisis with
respect to the peace process, but I wouldn't over-emphasize that
aspect of it," he told reporters.
Senior
U.S. administration officials confirmed that policy towards Iraq,
which U.S. President George W. Bush has linked to North Korea and
Iran in an "axis of evil," would feature prominently in
Cheney's talks with his hosts.
Arab
countries including U.S. allies such as Egypt and Jordan, fearful of
regional upheaval, have frequently expressed in past months their
continuous opposition to U.S. intervention in Iraq to finish off the
regime of Saddam Hussein.
As
Cheney began his visit, however, 22 Arab foreign affairs ministers
and their representatives wrapped up a conference in Cairo, calling
on the United States and the United Nations to stop "Israeli
aggression" following mounting violence on the ground.
"They call upon the American administration to take urgent
action to stop the aggression that threatens security and
stability," a statement released by the ministers said.
The
Egyptian press also recalled Sunday that during his visit last week
to the United States, President Hosni Mubarak insisted that the
United States take a "greater role" to calm the situation.
Senior
U.S. officials however played down speculation that growing pressure
from Arab nations played a major role in President George W. Bush's
decision to dispatch special Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni back to
the region.
Arab calls for the retired Marine Corps general's intervention had
been steady since he was recalled amid growing violence in January,
U.S. officials said, reported AFP.
They denied however, that Arab pressure brought a
marked U-turn in what had been a hallmark of his Middle East policy
- that any direct high-level US intervention had to wait until
violence subsided.
