Meeting at Kibbutz Metzer on Monday, the site of an attack
in which a Palestinian gunman killed two Jewish children and
three adults the evening before, the Israeli Cabinet
authorized military action in Tulkarm and Nablus.
Late Monday night the army demolished the home of Mohammed
Naifa, just north of Tulkarm. The army said that Naifa --
leader of the Tanzim in the Tulkarm area -- was responsible
for sending the gunman to Kibbutz Metzer late Sunday night
where they murdered a mother and her two children as she was
reading them a bedtime story, along with two other unrelated
adults. The Tanzim publicly claimed responsibility for the
attack.
Media reports said around 30 tanks, armored troop carriers
and jeeps moved into Tulkarm around 3 A.M. Sources said that
the operation will be "harsh, but it will not go
overboard."
The operation in Nablus had been planned earlier. Following
the completion of the recent IDF sweep inside Jenin, which
was considered very successful, it was decided that Nablus
would be next.
The Hamas and Fatah terrorist networks in Nablus were
responsible for a series of attacks against Israelis over the
past few months, including those at Immanuel, Ariel and Kfar
Sava. At least five other suicide bombings, planned in
Nablus, have been thwarted by Israeli security forces in the
past few weeks.
The decision to include Tulkarm in the move came after it
became clear that the Fatah gunman responsible for the Metzer
attack were from Tulkarm.
At Monday's cabinet meeting, Foreign Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu suggested exiling Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat.
However, serious objections were raised to making that move
at this time. In the past, the press has reported that Sharon
believed that Arafat should be exiled and the new Defense
Minister was also of that opinion. Apparently, they believe
that as long as Arafat is around the terror will continue and
no alternate leadership can develop.
However, according to security sources the U.S. has drawn
clear guidelines about what is permitted and what is
forbidden in Israel prior to the American offensive against
Iraq. The Americans expect Israel to refrain from exiling
Arafat, from undue pressure on his Muqata headquarters in
Ramallah, and from massive pressure on civilians.
The attack on Kibbutz Metzer stunned Israel. The fact that
two of the victims were children who were murdered, along
with their mother, in their own home was a shock. Also Metzer
residents are known for their dovish views, and the community
has good ties with neighboring Arab villages. Metzer is
located only a few hundred meters from the Green Line and
several Arab villages are very close.
The attack also came at a time when Fatah was in Cairo trying
to persuade the Hamas to halt attacks on civilians in
Israel.
Some parts of Fatah have distanced themselves from the
shooting rampage in Metzer. Fatah leaders said "rogues"
carried it out, and that it would help with an internal
investigation ordered by Arafat. However on Tuesday the Al
Aqsa brigades, associated with Fatah, said that it did not
intend to stop attacking Israeli civilians anywhere in
Israel.
Prior to the Cabinet meeting Sharon said: "Terror doesn't
differentiate between children, women, and men, settlers,
soldiers, and civilians. It doesn't differentiate between
cities, communities, settlements, and kibbutzim inside the
Green Line. It distinguishes Jews in order to harm them."
"Our enemies are despicable murderers. We have to do
everything to prevent to prevent such a thing from happening
and ensure that we can put our hands on the murderers,"
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Monday. In his first
security briefing to the cabinet, Mofaz discussed the actions
over the weekend in Jenin and said he intends to increase the
pressure on terrorist leaders. He said PA Chairman Yasser
Arafat is trying to buy time and that there is no organized
attempt in the PA to replace Arafat.
According to some officials, the operation is expected to
last for several days, and troops will adopt tactics similar
to those used during the operation in Jenin following the
suicide bombing at Karkur junction last month. They will set
up positions in the cities and conduct house-to-house
searches for suspects and bomb and weapons factories.
Israeli troops have had positions in the center of Nablus and
make arrests every night, but the entry with more force will
allow for more systematic searching for terrorists and
weapons factories.
Monday night, the security establishment said it had received
more than 40 specific warnings of planned attacks by
terrorists from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Tanzim. Security
forces are on full alert along the Green Line.
In the Gaza Strip, sappers detonated two powerful mines
planted in the hothouse area in Morag. On Sunday, security
forces discovered a mine packed with 100 kilograms of
explosives in the same area and detonated it.
The IDF lifted the curfews on Nablus, Jenin, and Kalkilya.
Ramallah and Hebron remained curfew free.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has asked the Americans for a
"diplomatic recess" until after the Likud primaries during
which the U.S. should not pressure Israel about its proposed
"road map" or about handing over funds to the Palestinian
Authority. Sharon sent his bureau chief, Dov Weisglass, to
Washington early this week, to see Condoleezza Rice about the
request.
Sharon's message includes a promise that if he wins the
primaries he'll resume his policies before the election
race.
Sharon has frozen his response to the road map because of
reservations by his new Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and his
new Foreign minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The U.S. has also been applying pressure on Israel to
accelerate the pace of transferring funds to the PA. The
money consists of taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the
PA and has been frozen since the start of the intifadah, with
Israel claiming the PA was using the money to pay salaries to
PA security officers involved in terror.
Weisglass headed to Washington a few days before National
Security Council chairman Ephraim Halevy was due in the U.S.
capital for his own meetings with Rice. Sharon chose to send
Weisglass instead of Halevy with the message so as not to
entangle Halevy in partisan political issues. Government
sources said he preferred Halevy be free to deal with
strategic issues like the coming war with Iraq.
In domestic politics, some polls put Sharon ahead of
Netanyahu in the race for leadership of the Likud party and
others give Netanyahu an edge. The voting is scheduled for
November 28.
In Labor, most polls put Haifa mayor Amram Mitzna ahead of
current Labor leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. Chaim Ramon, who
said on Monday that he will not drop out of the race, is a
distance third. Labor has scheduled its vote for November
19.
