In a fierce, three-hour battle Monday, Palestinian gunmen
attacked Kever Rochel, which remains under full Israeli
control and under Israeli guard at the entrance to
Bethlehem. Israel Defense Force officials said the
Palestinians, who launched a coordinated attack from three
directions, were trying to take over the tomb.
Israeli control of the site is guaranteed by various
agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but
since the recent violence began Palestinian officials have
demanded that Israel evacuate the site. Mindful of the way
that kever Yosef near Shechem was destroyed as soon as
Israeli troops evacuated in October despite explicit
Palestinian undertaking to preserve it, Israel has refused
to leave Kever Rochel.
An army spokesman described the attack as one of the most
"dangerous" events since the Palestinian violence began in
late September. The Palestinian attackers were making
headway and they constituted a serious threat until Israeli
helicopter gunships targeted a Palestinian position near a
refugee camp, from which heavy fire had been directed at the
troops at the tomb.
Palestinian officials said the fighting broke out after
soldiers and Jewish settlers attacked Muslim worshipers in
the nearby village of Hussan (near Beitar), wounding at
least 25 people. The IDF said there was no such incident.
Preliminary stages of the agreement in the early days of the
"peace" process between Israel and the Palestinians called
for a return of Kever Rochel to Palestinian control.
However, when the plans were made public, there was such a
broad protest against the idea that Israeli negotiators were
forced to renege on that part of the agreement.
Also on Monday, a member of the fundamentalist Hamas group
whom the Palestinian Authority recently freed from jail
along with dozens of other militants blew himself up in the
Gaza Strip, apparently while preparing a bomb for use
against a nearby Jewish settlement.
Monday's clashes prompted Palestinian Authority President
Yasser Arafat to repeat his call for an international peace
keeping force to be sent to the region. Arafat also accused
Israel of breaking pledges to try to end the violence.
However in a recent visit to the United Arab Emirates,
Arafat declared that the Palestinian uprising will continue
until his people's national goals are met.
Reviewing an honor guard after his return Monday from Qatar,
Arafat carried a submachine gun to emphasize the readiness
for violence. He said he was carrying the weapon because a
main Gaza Strip road that he was traveling on was blocked by
dozens of Jewish settlers protesting Israel's decision to
reopen the artery to Palestinian traffic. The road had been
closed to Palestinians following the bombing of an Israeli
school bus two weeks ago in which two people were killed and
nine wounded.
Israeli security officials said the settlers were cleared
from the road before Arafat's convoy came through.
In other violence Monday, Gilo again came under fire from
the nearby Arab town of Beit Jalla. There were no reports of
injuries, but one apartment was damaged.
Israel this week said it would cooperate with a U.S.-led
fact-finding panel probing the causes of the violence. To
date, nearly 300 Palestinians and 35 Israelis have died
since the unrest began two months ago.
Dismissing reports that he had rejected a U.S. offer to
mediate the crisis, Barak also lashed out at Labor Party
members whom he accused of pressuring him to try to reach an
agreement with the Palestinians before the end of President
Clinton's term on January 20. Barak last week agreed to
early elections in the face of broad Knesset backing for
such a move.
With Barak lagging in public opinion polls, it is widely
believed that his main hope for reelection rests on
clinching a deal with the Palestinians. But the prospects
for reaching an accord in the near future are not strong.
Meanwhile, the Knesset on Monday gave preliminary approval
to a bill that would prevent a prime minister who lacks a
parliamentary majority, such as Barak, from signing
international agreements.
