Israel receives Powell by the drums of war, 4,000 Palestinians arrested
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 4/12/2002

The Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and his foreign minister Shimon Peres on Thursday received the US secretary of state Colin Powell who arrived in Jerusalem earlier in the day.

Powell's arrival coincided with statements made by the two Israeli officials that Israeli will continue its aggressions for two or three weeks and delay its withdrawal from the Palestinian cities reoccupied recently and also to continue chasing the activists of the Intifada until the last one of them is killed as well as striking the Palestinian infrastructure. Israel in this process has arrested some 4000 Palestinians.

In Washington, the White House deliberately denied press reports that talked about a recession in the American support for the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.

The Washington Post has quoted the spokesman for the White House Ari Fleischer as saying in replying to a question on information questioning that the US President still considers Sharon a man committed to peace and seeks to achieve it in his own way. The paper quoted Fleischer as confirming that Sharon is doing what is necessary.

Meantime, the paper quoted officials at the US administration saying that aides for the US President have increasingly started to doubt the ability of Sharon to play the role of the American partner for the long run.

Meantime, the Israeli occupation forces started breaking in operations in the other Palestinian cities, villages and camps. On Thursday the Israeli forces stormed into Beir Zeit and al-Zahereyah in the camp of Ein Beit al-Maa and occupied parts of Toulkarem from which it had pulled out earlier and arrested scored of Palestinians.

The Israeli forces on Thursday admitted of arresting more than 4185 Palestinians since the beginning of its invasion of the West bank on March 29th.

While the Israeli forces are tightening the siege in the church of Nativity in Bethlehem since ten days, these forces on Thursday besieged other churches in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala at a time when the Israeli forces committed collective massacres against the Palestinians in Jenin camp.

News reports said that the Israeli tanks and bulldozers are demolishing the houses on the heads of their inhabitants and dumped the corpses of the Palestinians with the ruins of the destroyed houses in order to hide evidences of its crimes.

In Gaza, according to witnesses and Palestinian security sources, the Israeli forces tightened its closure of the main roads linking the north parts of Gaza to its south by huge cement blocks especially their two cross- roads of Abu Houli in Deir al-Balah and the al-Matahin ( milling houses) in Khan Younis.

Meantime, Nabil Abu Rudinah, the political advisor for the chairman of the Palestinian authority Yasser Arafat on Thursday refuted Israeli claims of pulling out the Israeli forces from the villages and cities of the West Bank.

At the political level, Israeli political sources said that the US secretary of state Colin Powell will be meeting with the chairman of the Palestinian authority Yasser Arafat on Saturday in Ramullah.

The Israeli radio quoted these sources as saying that Powell who arrived on Thursday evening in Israel will hold a press conference with the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon upon meeting with him today. The sources added that after the press conference with Sharon, Powell will be meeting with the Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and with the Israeli war minister Benjamin Bin Aliazer and also with the Israeli President Moshe Katsav.

On another hand, an Israeli military spokesman admitted that two Israeli soldiers were strongly wounded when the Israeli soldiers arrested four members of the Palestinian police in Nablus.

The Israeli Hebrew Language radio said that an Israeli forces broke into the houses of the four Palestinians and took them to an unknown place claiming that large amounts of ammunition were found in their houses besides rockets and several explosive belts.

Moreover, one Palestinian was killed in Hebron while he was in his way to carry out a " suicide operation' against the Israeli forces when the explosives he was carrying were blown off mistakenly.

Palestinian eye witnesses said that several persons were wounded as a result of the explosion which took place near a rent car station which usually head for Jerusalem, Haifa and Beer al-Sabe.

UK's The Independent daily described yesterday what some are calling "Mr Sharon's tactics". It said: "Abdullah Washai had to watch his 17-year-old brother, Munir, slowly bleed to death. He took several hours to die. A hole had been ripped in his shoulder by a round from an Israeli helicopter. When the boy's mother, Mariam, ran into the street screaming for help, Mr Washai says, Israeli soldiers shot her dead."

The USA said it opposes compelling Israel to withdraw from the latest incursion into Palestinan occupied territories by using effective UN Security Council resolutions that would force sanctions on Israel, and it the USA opposes resolutions that would bring Israel to observe the Geneva Convention. The USA is also opposed to using force to compell Israel to exit its occupation, as would happen by passing resolutions under Article 7 of the United Nations charter.

(see references bellow on international law for some contemplation on these issues)

Previous Stories:
  Israeli attacks destroy antiquities   (4/11/2002)
  Amnesty: Gravest abuses against the Palestinian population are taking place behind closed doors   (4/11/2002)
  International relief agencies condemn military actions in Palestinian territories   (4/11/2002)
  UN aid agency warns of catastrophe in Jenin camp caused by Israel   (4/11/2002)
  Journalists Say Israel Should be Punished for 'Reckless War on Media'   (4/10/2002)
  'Effective' UN resolution for immediate Israel withdrawal, honoring Geneva convention, or face sanctions   (4/10/2002)
  Geneva Conventions provisions violated in Palestine   (4/9/2002)
  The need and future of international institutions   (1/15/2000)
  The foundation for tomorrow's international politics   (10/18/1999)

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