Palestinian terrorists were back on the warpath on Friday, as a suicide bomber targeted a crowded Tel Aviv pedestrian mall, wounding 22 Israelis, while rockets slammed into the Erez crossing into northern Gaza.
US special “security” envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni ended his brief regional visit on Sunday saying chances for an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire were improving, despite Israel’s daring seizure of a freighter loaded with weapons bound for the Palestinian Authority. Iran and Hizb’Allah have joined the PA in vigorously denying any connection to the captured vessel, while many Israelis are wondering what possibly more could their leaders want before finally declaring PLO chief Yasser Arafat an enemy.
In a highly-anticipated and carefully balanced foreign policy speech on the Israeli-Arab conflict on Monday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to re-assert the American role in Middle East peace-making, reiterating the new Bush Administration line that it envisions a Palestinian state down the road, but stressing the first order of business is for the Palestinian Authority to stamp out terror, violence and incitement against Israel.
There were steady bouts of Palestinian shooting, mortar and bombing attacks since last Friday, with at least seven Israelis wounded and 13 Palestinians reportedly killed and scores more injured in “work accidents” or Israeli pre-emptive strikes and return fire.
Three Israelis, including one with dual American citizenship, were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in separate shootings and a school bus was fired upon on Wednesday, as the bullet-riddled ceasefire faltered towards complete collapse over the past 24 hours.
Former US president Bill Clinton was warmly welcomed back to Israel this week, where he again blamed PLO chief Yasser Arafat for turning down his generous peace proposals more than a year ago and opting for violence. But at no time has Clinton shouldered any of the blame for crafting policies and a flawed negotiation strategy that left the region in flames as he departed the White House one year ago.
With the Israeli government declaring early today that it will have no more dealings with Yasser Arafat, and as military forces step up attacks on Palestinian Authority positions following Wednesday’s terrorist blitz, security sources say there is growing evidence that Arafat has been working for some weeks to lead the Middle East into a major new conflict. They say this could be part of a larger effort to bring much of the world to war. Although the evidence is still mainly circumstantial at this point, they maintain it is substantial enough to be taken seriously by regional and international leaders.
Israeli security officials are warning that a major Islamic terrorist attack upon Israel, possibly on a similar scale to the calamities that struck New York and Washington, could be launched in the near future. Ironically, they say such a massive assault might be directly linked to the Bush administration’s worldwide anti-terrorist campaign.
The following excerpts, broadcasted on PA TV, are from the Friday sermon [August 3, 2001] given by Sheik Ibrahim Madhi at the Sheik ’Ijlin Mosque in Gaza:
“…Oh lovers of Allah. After the leaders of the Jews declared the “Hell” plan(1), we say: Yes, we accept the challenge, if this is the “Hell” plan. Then our dead [will reach] Heaven and their dead [will reach] Hell, Allah willing. This Jihad activity will continue, whether they like it or if it upsets them. Why do we complicate things. This is Jihad: Either victory or Martyrdom…”
On Tisha b’Av (29th July 2001), the day which commemorates the destruction of both temples, 2587 years since the destruction of the First Temple in 586BCE and 1931 years since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70CE, the Temple Mount Faithful Movement will go up to the Temple Mount.
Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs met last night under CIA mediation, but the meeting broke down after 90 minutes amid angry accusations by both sides.
Israeli police thwarted a major bomb attack in the northern port city of Haifa yesterday, when a Palestinian suicide bomber was arrested before carrying out an attack in a crowded area.
After months of violence, Israelis are now openly debating the possibility of a military invasion of Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip aimed at crushing the Palestinian Authority and ending the rule of Yasser Arafat.
Efforts to save the collapsing cease-fire shifted to Cairo today, where Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat met separately with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Israeli tanks and bulldozers stormed into a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip overnight, destroying homes and sparking a fierce gunbattle.
“There is no better example of the cynical attitude of the Palestinian Authority,” and of Arafat himself, to acts of terror than their handling of the Dolphinarium suicide slaughter that claimed 21 young lives. So wrote military correspondent Ze’ev Schiff in Ha’aretz (June 22).
As American, Israeli and Palestinian leaders converge in New York for the UN’s opening Millennium summit, there are no signs of an imminent breakthrough to the negotiating impasse over Jerusalem, only hardening Arab positions and gloomy forecasts of failed diplomacy.
An Israeli army officer was killed by a Palestinian gunman today on the “Tunnel Road” at the southern entrance to Jerusalem, jeopardizing a fragile cease-fire that went into effect yesterday afternoon. Security sources believe the officer was deliberately targeted in a Palestinian hit.
Hatred of Israel is an ideal in the Palestinian Authority official press. Following are quotes from an article which appeared in the official Palestinian daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.
Israeli troops killed two Palestinian terrorists today on the Gaza border as they tried to plant a bomb. The Israeli army said the two men were seen planting a bomb on the edge of Bureij refugee camp, close to the Israeli border, when troops opened fire.