U.S. envoys former Gen. Anthony Zinni and the assistant
secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs William Burns
arrived on Monday to try to restart the peace process. On
Tuesday they met with Israeli prime minister Sharon and were
taken on a helicopter tour of the Palestinian areas. On
Wednesday they are due to meet with Yasser Arafat.
Violence continued unabated. On Tuesday morning there was a
shooting attack in Afula.
On Saturday night, an Israeli soldier was killed in a
Palestinian mortar attack in the Gaza Strip. Hamas claimed
responsibility for the attack near Kfar Darom. Hamas
officials said they were avenging last Friday's slaying of
Hamas leader Mahmoud Abu Hanoud in an Israeli helicopter
attack.
Hanoud, who was killed along with his deputy and another man,
was atop Israel's most-wanted list for planning terror
attacks that killed dozens of Israelis. Army spokesmen said
that Hanoud was behind the June suicide bombing outside the
Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv and another suicide attack in
August at the Sbarro's pizzeria in Jerusalem. Hanoud,
considered the No. 1 Hamas fugitive, had evaded two Israeli
attempts on his life earlier this year.
On Sunday, Israel retaliated for the Saturday night mortar
attack by launching helicopter missile strikes, destroying
several Palestinian security posts in Gaza.
Last Thursday, five Palestinian children were killed in Gaza
when an Israeli tank shell exploded. Palestinian police
report that one of the children kicked the shell, causing it
to explode, but Palestinian leaders charged that Israel had
deliberately planted the shell as a booby trap. Israeli
officials said they would investigate the incident.
In another incident, two members of Fatah died in an
explosion near the city of Nablus. Israeli officials said the
two were preparing a bomb. Palestinian officials said the two
had stumbled on an unexploded Israeli tank shell.
In a speech last week at the University of Louisville in
Kentucky, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced that
Zinni and Burns were being sent to the Middle East.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said it was up to the other
side to ensure the success of the U.S. peace mission.
At the weekly Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
clarified that his goal and the government's goal is to
arrange a cease-fire. Israel sees this as a matter of supreme
importance and will make every effort possible to achieve
this goal. This is the true test of Arafat and the
Palestinian leadership said Sharon, and this will determine
if their intentions are in fact to move the diplomatic
process forward.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told Voice
of Palestine Radio, "I cannot forecast whether these efforts
will succeed because Sharon is trying to drown these efforts
in a sea of blood."
Meanwhile Israeli intelligence analyses presented recently to
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon claim that Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat does not appear to be part of the
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that the
Palestinian political system is now talking about the post-
Arafat era.
Senior intelligence sources have recommended to the political
level that they devote their efforts to creating connections
with the "next generation" of the Palestinian leadership.
According to intelligence analyses, the Palestinian intifadah
reached a dead end even before the September 11 attacks on
the United States. The Arab states, headed by Egypt, have
given the Palestinians rhetorical -- but not practical --
support, and Arafat has not managed to enlist significant
Arab pressure on the United States on his behalf.
A senior security source said this week that the U.S. now
clearly sees Arafat's role in terrorism and know that he is
not doing a thing to fight it.
The downturn in the number of terrorist events in recent
weeks is the result of Israeli preventative actions and not
of any effort by Arafat.
The source said that Palestinian "fatigue" from the intifadah
has not brought about a concrete decision to stop terrorism
and commence preventive measures, such as arrests,
investigations and intelligence connections with Israel.
In another development the IDF withdrew Monday night from the
positions it took in the West Bank town of Jenin after the
assassination of Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi on October
17.
On Tuesday morning the IDF completed its redeployment around
the town. IDF forces are to continue to surround the town due
to continued warnings on militants intending to carry out
suicide bombings.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer ordered the withdrawal
Monday in advance of American peace envoy Anthony Zinni's
arrival. Zinni arrived Monday night.
Jenin was the last of six West Bank towns the IDF took over
last month.
