| Mid-East Realities | www.middleeast.org |
MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 7/12: If Janes has reported it, and if Shimon Peres has denied it, there are two good reasons to believe it.
The report that a force of some 30,000 Israeli troops is preparing to take on Arafat's "Authority" and bring it to an end was just published in one of the most reputable international publications, one published by the Janes Intelligence network in the U.K. and available only to members who pay a sizeable yearly subscription fee. A few important details are in this morning's AP flash report. Expect the Israelis to possibly start taking individual areas away from the Arafat "Authority", the next step after the demolition raids that have been conducted into areas designated "A", primarily in Gaza, so far. The pattern of provoking greater Palestinian violence and discrediting Arafat possibly forcing him to flee for his safety is pretty clear for those who want to see.
The report published by Janes may well have been leaked by the Israelis themselves. In recent days and weeks other similar reports have more transparently been leaked by in-the-know Israelis officials to the Israeli media. And when it comes to Shimon Peres, this is the same man who when Prime Minister in 1996 repeatedly denied the terrible Qana massacre -- until that is a video tape of Israel artillery targeted the civilians became known and everyone from the U.N. to Amnesty Internationally investigated and publicly condemned Israel for purposefully targeting what was supposed to be a U.N. safe haven.
It all appears to be a way of getting international public opinion use to the idea that Arafat and the "Oslo peace process" are on the way out so that when the "big bang" finally happens it will be less shocking and maybe considered "old news".
JERUSALEM (AP - 7/12) -- Four Israelis, including a year-old infant, were wounded Thursday in two separate shooting attacks in the West Bank, and a short time later Israeli tanks began shelling the Palestinian town of Nablus, witnesses and Palestinian police said.
More than 10 shells exploded within seconds of each other in the southern part of Nablus. Reporters heard the blasts and saw white smoke rising into the air.
The Israeli army had no immediate comment, and said it was checking.
In the first months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Israel frequently shelled Palestinian targets in response to attacks on Israelis. However, Israel has refrained from heavy shelling since a U.S.-brokered truce was declared a month ago.
Thursday's turmoil began when a Jewish settler couple and their infant were wounded in a drive-by shooting near the Har Bracha settlement, south of Nablus. The man was struck by a bullet in the head, while the woman and infant were hurt by glass shards.
In response, Jewish settlers smashed the windows of Palestinian cars, including an ambulance, with stones and rifle butts in the village of Huareh, south of Nablus, witnesses said. Settlers also burned olive groves.
A short while later, an Israeli motorist was critically wounded in a shooting ambush near the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, next to the Palestinian town of Hebron.
About two dozen settlers entered an Arab market in Hebron and began a confrontation with Palestinians who threw stones at them. Israeli police tried to separate the two sides. It was not immediately clear whether the scuffle came before or after the shooting attack.
Over the past month, each side has accused the other of violating the cease-fire provisions, and there are increasing doubts that the truce -- a first step in a long process of resuming peace talks -- can take hold.
A meeting of Israeli and Palestinian security officials assessing the implementation of the cease-fire broke up amid bitter recriminations late Wednesday.
Palestinian officials complained of what they said were serious Israeli truce violations, including the killing of a Palestinian woman at an Israeli checkpoint Wednesday, and the demolition of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem this week.
The Israeli security chiefs said Palestinian shooting, grenade and fire-bomb attacks continue and the Palestinian Authority is not enforcing the cease-fire. At the suggestion of the CIA representative, the meeting was stopped and is to be resumed next week, the officials said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, meanwhile, denied a report in the British journal Foreign Report, which said the Israeli military submitted a plan to the Cabinet to send 30,000 troops into the Palestinian areas, if there is another large-scale Palestinian terror attack.
Under the reported plan, the Israeli troops would seek to destroy the installations of the Palestinian Authority, disarm the Palestinians and cause the flight of the entire leadership, including Yasser Arafat.
Peres said no such plan was ever submitted or discussed. ''I'm so happy to see that such an important journal has such a fertile imagination. It simply didn't happen,'' he told Israeli army radio.
Arafat is trying to stop the fighting and the number of violent incidents is dropping, Peres said, but he has to try harder before peace negotiations can be resumed. ''At this moment there is no doubt that the ball is in the Palestinian court,'' he said.
| Mid-East Realities | www.middleeast.org |
| Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/7/277.htm |