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Arafat
Orders Halt To Shootings As Israel Warns Restraint Limited
by Sakher Abu El Oun
GAZA
CITY (AFP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has ordered a halt to shootings in
areas under its control, a senior official said Wednesday, as Israel warned its
patience was running out after weeks of deadly violence that has blazed across
the occupied territories.
"The
high Palestinian security council, headed by Arafat, which is responsible for
all of the security forces, late yesterday issued an order for unknown gunmen
not to shoot from areas A [under full Palestinian control] and from among
civilians and civilian buildings throughout the Palestinian territories,"
the official said.
The
council's decision came only hours after Arafat spoke on the telephone with U.S.
President Bill Clinton, who has called on the Palestinian leader to take steps
to scale back the violence.
But
there was more bloodshed on Wednesday, the anniversary of Arafat's symbolic
declaration of independence 12 years ago that Arafat's Fatah faction has called
to be marked with rallies and action against Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Israeli
troops shot dead Ahmed Samir Basal, 20, in clashes at the Karni crossing between
Israel and the Gaza Strip, while at Rafah on the border with Egypt there were
violent confrontations as thousands attended the funeral for one of three
Palestinians killed the day before.
And
despite the Arafat order, shooting erupted at the northern entrance of the West
Bank town of Ramallah, although there were no immediate reports of injuries.
The
latest death brought to 224 the number of people killed, most of them
Palestinians, since a controversial visit on September 28th by Israeli
right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a disputed holy site in Jerusalem.
Israel
has warned of harsh reprisals after four of its citizens were killed in gun
attacks Monday that reflected a dramatic shift in the pattern of fighting from
widespread demonstrations and stone throwing to concentrated gunbattles and
shooting attacks.
"Our
policy of restraint cannot continue. There is no question of us standing idly by
when the Palestinians kill Jews," Communications Minister Binyamin Ben
Eliezer told army radio.
Prime
Minister Ehud Barak, back from a trip to the United States to discuss how to
stem the bloodletting that has led to the near collapse of the peace process, is
due to chair a meeting of his security cabinet later Wednesday.
"The
situation is getting much worse. There is shooting on the roads. It is war and
we want to restore calm," Ben Eliezer said. "But if we can't live in
peace they [the Palestinians] will suffer the consequences."
Ben
Eliezer, considered a hawk in Barak's minority government, said it was
impossible to think about resuming peace negotiations with the Palestinians
until calm was restored.
Barak
last month suspended the Oslo peace process started by his mentor, the slain
prime minister Yitzhak Rabin seven years ago, although negotiations had been
stalled since the failure of the Camp David summit in July.
Asked
when he would declare the creation of a Palestinian state, a move Israel and the
United States vehemently oppose without a peace deal, Arafat told reporters in
Gaza: "very close."
The
PLO Central Council is due to meet within two weeks to discuss plans to declare
statehood after putting off an expected November 15th meeting, Palestinian
information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Tuesday.
But
he suggested that such a declaration might wait until the Palestinians have
control over the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territories
occupied by Israeli in the 1967 war.
Meanwhile,
world dignitaries prepared to join Israeli leaders for the funeral of Rabin's
widow Leah, who up until her death on Sunday had carried the torch of peace lit
by her husband.
A
Jewish terrorist at peace rally in Tel Aviv gunned down Rabin on November 4th,
1995, after a virulent right-wing campaign against the peace policies with the
Palestinians that won him a Nobel peace prize.
U.S.
First Lady Hillary Clinton is among the dignitaries who will be attending the
funeral at a cemetery where the "nation's great" are laid to rest.
U.S.
Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, who is attending the attending the funeral, will
meet Arafat and probably Israeli officials.
On
Tuesday, an Israeli official said a summit aimed at reaching a draft peace deal
with the Palestinians could be held before the end of Clinton's term in January.
But
Barak's security advisor Danny Yatom told army radio: "The resumption of
the political process is not compatible with the wave of terrorism and
violence."
Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami compared the
violence to the guerrilla war waged by the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement
against Israeli forces in Lebanon, which left in May after a bloody 22-year
occupation
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