Further deterioration in the occupied Arab territories

The Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has claimed that the Palestinian authority is making efforts to obtain weapons from Rafah in Gaza, noting that his government will take measures that will prevent that.

For his part, the Israeli President Moshe Kostav voiced support for the policy of demolishing houses pursued by Sharon government under the pretext that this aims at foiling attempts made by the Palestinians to carry out operations against Israeli targets.

The Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres stressed his consent to approve the policy of demolishing houses and Palestinian civilian establishments in the framework of what he called " the punishment policy" against the Palestinians, considering that the international criticism for this policy is but a passing wave and that demolishing the houses of the Palestinians is a security necessity.

The chairman of the Israeli " Merits " movement Yusi Sarid admitted that the policy of demolishing the Palestinian houses is but a strategic projects carried out by the government of Sharon and has no connection to the operations carried out by the Palestinians against israeli targets.

Meantime, the Israeli army announced closure of al-Mawasi district in Gaza and carried out a large scale breaking in operations against several houses and attacked its owners. The Israeli forces also repositioned its tanks to the north of Rafah where 125 families of the Rafah camp were displaced last week.