Global Policy Forum

By Jeffrey Heller

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday Israel's most widespread ground offensive against the Palestinian Authority would end only when it was satisfied Yasser Arafat was cracking down on terrorism.

Four Palestinians were killed as Israeli tanks and troops continued to deploy in and around six West Bank cities in the wake of the assassination by radical Palestinian gunmen last Wednesday of a far-right Israeli cabinet minister.

Palestinian officials accused Israel of trying to topple the Palestinian Authority of President Arafat.

Israel denied the allegation and said the aim of the operation -- its biggest since interim peace accords were signed in 1993 -- was to stop Palestinian militants from reaching its cities and carrying out attacks.

Despite its efforts to bolster Arab support for its anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan, the United States has refrained from making a direct appeal for an Israeli withdrawal -- an apparent sign of displeasure with Arafat.

"Israel has no interest in remaining in places where the army has entered," Sharon was quoted as saying in a communique after the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.

"The amount of time the army stays in these areas depends, to a large extent, on Arafat and the actions he takes to prevent terrorism," Sharon said.

Arafat said Saturday Israel wanted to "escalate militarily."

"It is pursuing this plan, in direct challenge to all international efforts to calm the situation and to revive the peace process," he said.

Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke by telephone with a series of key figures involved in the Middle East conflict on Sunday while at an Asia-Pacific forum in China, a senior State Department official told reporters.

These were Arafat, Sharon, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Jordan's King Abdullah.

He gave no details of the discussions but said Powell's basic message was: "We've got to find a way forward."

ISRAELI STRANGLEHOLD

The army has either taken over Palestinian-controlled territory or tightened its stranglehold over a number of West Bank towns and cities including Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jenin and Beit Jala.

The action is in retaliation for Wednesday's assassination by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) of far-right cabinet minister, Rehavan Zeevi.

Saturday, Israeli troops and armor encircled the West Bank cities of Tulkarm and Qalqilya. "It is the most wide-scale ground operation undertaken to date against the Palestinian Authority," Israeli army chief Shaul Mofaz told the cabinet, according to the communique.

In Bethlehem, a Palestinian civilian and a police officer were killed and at least six others were hurt during gun battles. A Palestinian man was shot dead in nearby Beit Jala and a Palestinian woman was killed outside Jenin.

Eight Palestinians were killed in fierce battles Saturday throughout the West Bank.

At least 24 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed in the fighting that erupted after Zeevi's slaying, which ended a brief lull in violence in a year-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

Israel has demanded the Authority hand over those involved in Zeevi's killing, that it outlaw groups it defines as terrorist and that it arrest militants on a most-wanted list.

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the Authority had not found the assassins. If it did, it would put them on trial itself rather than handing them over to Israel.

Erekat told BBC television: "The end game which (Sharon) is now pursuing is to destroy the Palestinian Authority and to destroy the peace process."

The PFLP said its gunmen had killed Zeevi to avenge the Israeli assassination of its leader, Abu Ali Mustafa, in August.

A senior Palestinian security source said Palestinian forces had arrested some 20 militants since Zeevi's assassination.

But Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio that "Arafat is doing nothing, nothing to stop terrorism."

BULLET HOLES IN CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus, became a casualty of the conflict on Sunday.

A church caretaker pointed to two bullet holes in an upper window and a third in the roof after Palestinians fired automatic weapons in the air outside its stone walls during a funeral procession for a Palestinian killed Saturday.

Palestinians often fire in the air during funerals to vent their emotions. No one was hurt in the church. Earlier, Pope John Paul appealed for the sides to end the fighting in Bethlehem. He said the Holy Land should be "a land of peace and fraternity once again."

At least 650 Palestinians and 177 Israelis have been killed since the uprising erupted in September 2000 after peace talks failed.

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