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Israel
Rejects Arabs Peace Offer, Prepares For War
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Saudi
Crown Prince Abdullah |
JERUSALEM,
March 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel Thursday rejected
the Saudi peace plan for the Middle East, unanimously adopted by the
Arab summit in Beirut, amid signals of an all-out Israeli offensive
against Palestinian territories.
An
Israeli official said the Saudi peace plan was
"unacceptable" in its current form. He claimed the right of
return of Palestinian refugees would destroy the Jewish State,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We
cannot accept the right of return. It would mean a situation where
there are two Palestinian states," Israeli Foreign Ministry
spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon told AFP.
He said the proposal to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip as well as the return of millions of Palestinian
refugees into Israel would lead to the end of the Jewish State.
Meanwhile,
the Palestinians braced for fresh Israeli aggressions, including a
possible attack on the base of their President Yasser Arafat in the
West Bank city of Ramallah.
Speaking
before the Arab Summit, Faruq Qadumi, the Palestinian Foreign Minister
said Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh contacted Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat who informed him of the serious situation in
the Palestinian territories.
“President
Arafat spoke about an Israeli strike which they are expecting. There
are 150 Israeli war tank surrounding the city of Ramallah and
international organizations were asked to be evacuated. A major strike
is expected and President Arafat is asking his brethren at to take a
unified stance and to support the summit,” said Qadumi.
“We
extend our hands with peace to Israel and it responds with further
aggression. We do not need more negotiations but specific actions,”
he said, adding that the ‘cease-fire’ that is often spoken about
by the Israeli is a false illusion because it is the Israeli
war-machine that is the aggressor.
“The
Palestinian people are looking towards more support from the
summit,” said Qadumi.
Palestinian
officials said the word was given to all civil and security employees.
Many schools also sent their pupils home and people were seen
scurrying to stock up on food and other necessities.
Gaza employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said
they had been told to go home.
Nachshon
Thursday claimed the Palestinians had "crossed a red line"
when a Palestinian activist killed himself and 21 others and wounded
about 100 more Israelis, 26 of them seriously.
"There will be a response, I can't say how strong or where,"
Nachshon told AFP after the deadliest Palestinian attack since last
June 1.
"If
the Palestinians want war, then we will have to take all the necessary
measures to win this conflict," he said. "We are going to
fight back because we have a duty to the population."
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Israeli
tanks are taking their postions in and around Palestinian
areas |
Earlier
Thursday, two Israeli tanks and an army bulldozer cut the main
north-south road in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security officials
told AFP.
The tanks took up positions at a junction near the Netzarim Jewish
settlement in the central Gaza Strip, also cutting an east-west road,
the officials said.
The bulldozer was building earthworks to reinforce the position, they
said.
On
Monday, The Washington Post, citing Israeli officials, reported that
Israeli military planners were preparing for a major assault on
Palestinian cities, towns and refugee camps that would be broader and
deeper than the offensive undertaken earlier this month.
The officials, not identified by the U.S. daily newspaper, expressed
pessimism that the talks (currently underway with the Palestinians)
would lead to a durable end to violence and attacks against Israelis.
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