The government intends to escalate targeted attacks on
leaders of terrorist organizations and increase military
operations against terrorism in response to the double
suicide bombing at Ashdod Port on Sunday in which 10 people
were murdered, security officials said Monday. In addition, a
general closure will be imposed on the territories. The
Ashdod attack was said to be a joint Hamas-Fatah
operation.
These are only some of the measures that were decided on in a
meeting among Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and senior
military and security officials shortly after Mofaz's return
from Washington on Monday night. Defense officials said the
closure on the Gaza Strip, banning 19,000 Palestinian workers
from reaching their jobs in Israel, would be extended to the
West Bank until further notice.
Several Israel Defense Forces tanks moved into Gaza City
early Tuesday morning from the south. Soldiers destroyed an
abandoned building at the edge of Gaza City after ordering
families from nearby houses to evacuate the area. The Army
said the building was used by gunmen to fire at Israeli
targets.
Tuesday's planned meeting between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
and PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei was postponed indefinitely
because the government will not "negotiate as if there were
no terror, and fight terror as if there were no
negotiations," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Monday,
referring to the announced policy of the Labor-led government
ten years ago under the late Yitzhak Rabin.
Shalom said Israel has made clear to the PA and the
international community that it won't tolerate a situation in
which it "negotiates by night and buries its dead by day.
"The moment such a difficult attack occurred, it was clear
this was not the time for a meeting," Shalom said, pointing
out that Qurei had put off meeting Sharon for some four
months.
Before Tuesday's meeting was called off, Israeli officials
said Qurei was interested in meeting Sharon before his visit
Washington in order to prevent him from claiming there is no
one to talk to on the Palestinian side.
Although no formal date has been set for a meeting between
Sharon and US President George W. Bush, March 31 or April 1
seem likely.
Instead of meeting Qurei, Sharon will convene the security
cabinet -- for the first time in months -- to discuss the
response to the Ashdod attack.
Some ministers called to remove Arafat. One government
official, however, said he doubts this will happen, because
the intelligence community believes Israel is better off with
him penned inside the Mukata than roaming around the
world.
Shalom, however, said he fears that as long as Arafat is on
the scene, no moderate Palestinian leader with whom Israel
can negotiate will emerge.
In addition to Sharon, Mofaz, and Shalom, the other members
of the security cabinet include Finance Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labor Ehud
Olmert, Education Minister Limor Livnat, and Internal
Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi, all of the Likud; Justice
Minister Yosef Lapid and Interior Minister Avraham Poraz, of
Shinui; Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman of the
National Union; and Construction and Housing Minister Effi
Eitam of the National Religious Party.
A military source said after this meeting that "the proposals
are extraordinary regarding the scope, power and duration of
the Israeli response. They call for actions of a kind that
have not been witnessed in the territories for a long
time."
The investigation to determine how the two suicide bombers
from the Gaza Strip crossed into Israel and entered the port
area continues. Investigators say they were either smuggled
in via a tunnel or used false identity papers and came
through at the Erez crossing.
Senior Aksa Martyrs Brigades leaders were quoted on Monday
saying that the bombers entered Israel through a tunnel and
had intended to blow up near fuel tanks at the port.
Hours after Sunday's attack, the IAF targeted two Gaza City
buildings in which weapons were made for Hamas. Israel also
barred thousands of Gaza laborers from entering Israel.
However, the 4,500 Palestinians who work at the Erez
industrial site will be permitted to enter, and the Karni and
Sufa crossings used to transfer merchandise will remain
open.
Major General Aharon Ze'evi (Farkash), head of Military
Intelligence, predicted that when Israel announced plans for
a unilateral withdrawal, the Palestinian organizations would
make a concerted effort to increase their attacks to show
that Israel is retreating under military pressure.
To that end, Ze'evi warned, the militant groups would try
large-scale attacks in the Gaza Strip area. The first such
attempt came last week when several cars disguised as Israel
Defense Forces vehicles approached the Erez crossing. This
effort, another joint Hamas-Fatah operation, was foiled
thanks to the alertness and ingenuity of IDF soldiers; all
the attackers were killed and no Israeli soldiers were
injured.
