“Israel will use Iraq war as cover to hit Palestinians,” Arafat

KUALA LUMPUR, February 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israel will use a war on Iraq as cover to evict Palestinians and destroy holy sites, Yasser Arafat warned Tuesday, February 25.

Arafat, addressing the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit by video link, warned his people would pay a "heavy price" for any war, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The Israeli government is the first in line to push for this war in order to exploit the situation while the world is busy with Iraq," he said.

Arafat, who is unable to attend the 116-nation NAM conference in the Malaysian capital, because Israel has reportedly refused to guarantee his right to return to his territory, also called for Israelis suspected of "war crimes" to be put on trial.

Arafat said certain Israelis were guilty of "the confiscation of land, the transfer of nationals of the occupying power to that land and the building of settlements, which constitute war crimes with the intensity of crimes against humanity," reported AFP.

"The international community must bring an end to this with the implementation of international law in this regard," he added, echoing a resolution due to be adopted by NAM.

Israeli forces pulled out of Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip Monday after destroying roads and bridges, in an operation aimed at isolating the town which is being used by Hamas resistance fighters. Hamas has been launching a violent 29-month Intifada against Israel.

In an interview published last week in the Spanish newspaper El Pais, Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa said that the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon poses a far greater regional threat than Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Mussa pointed out that UN Security Council Resolution 687 called for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the entire Middle East region - not just Iraq. "Everyone knows Israel possesses many weapons (of mass destruction)," he said.

"It's a scandalous example of double standards. There's a lot of attention to the possibility that Saddam could possess weapons of mass destruction, yet it's accepted that another country in the region should have them.

"Israel is allowed to carry out violent acts with complete impunity that no other country in the world could get away with. Israel can ignore Security Council resolutions," the Arab leader said.

Earlier in October, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher voiced concern that Israel could exploit a U.S. war on Iraq to deport Palestinians to Jordan, which also fears an influx of Iraqi refugees.

"We do not want to see a situation where the Israeli government might make use of a war on Iraq in order to transfer Palestinians to Jordan," Moasher told foreign media representatives in Amman.

"While the Israelis have privately assured us this is contrary to their policies, we have not yet seen one public statement by any Israeli official stating that the transfer policy is contrary to Israeli policies," he said.

Palestinian Killed In Nablus

In continuous Israeli aggression, a Palestinian man who was seriously wounded by Israeli soldiers in Nablus died on Tuesday, February 25, Palestinian hospital officials in this northern West Bank city said.

Alla Abu Shakh, 25, was wounded on February 16 when Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians throwing stones at them. He was unarmed when he was shot, officials said, reported AFP.

The rioting and subsequent shooting broke out when Israeli forces surrounded the house of a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Taysir Khaled.

Three other Palestinians were killed and around 30 injured in the operation to arrest Khaled.

Shakh's death brought to 2,997 the number of people killed in the Palestinian uprising since September 2000, including 2,246 Palestinians and 695 Israelis.