Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon has threatened to throw Israel's full military arsenal against the Palestinians amid scathing domestic criticism today of his use of warplanes to retaliate for a suicide bombing.
"We will do everything necessary and use everything we have to protect Israeli citizens," Mr Sharon was quoted as saying in an interview with Israel's largest daily,
Yedioth Ahronoth
.
Six people, including a suicide bomber from the militant Hamas movement, were killed in the explosion at a shopping mall in the seaside Israeli city of Netanya on Friday.
Hours later, Israeli F-16 warplanes struck Palestinian security compounds in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, killing at least 12 Palestinian policemen.
Yedioth Ahronoth, in an editorial, called the decision to unleash the US-built F-16s for the first time in the eight-month-old Palestinian uprising "worthless" and "stupid." Other Israeli dailies echoed the commentary.
The Palestinian Authority called the Israeli attacks a "serious escalation" and urged the international community and the United States to intervene immediately.
UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan called the suicide attack appalling, but branded Israel's response "disproportionate."
Three Palestinians were killed yesterday in clashes with the Israeli army in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The fighting brought new calls for an end to the violence and heightening of a security alert in Israel, where police on the watch for more suicide bombers set up roadblocks that caused traffic jams at the start of the Israeli work week today.Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat said the Arab foreign ministers, who met in Cairo yesterday, had expressed solidarity with their Palestinian brethren.
"Arab brothers presented a strong and clear stand with the Palestinian brothers in this crisis," he told reporters in his Gaza office after returning from Egypt.
Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres, who begins a two-day visit to Russia on Sunday, said he regretted the conclusions of his Arab counterparts.
"(It) was agreed to clarify all the disputed issues through dialogue at the negotiating table without the interference of terrorism and violence," Mr Peres said in a written statement.