US/MIDDLE EAST: After another day of violence, with an Israeli reported killed last night by a Palestinian gunman who broke into a Jordan Valley settlement, and a thwarted suicide bombing outside Jerusalem, Israel's Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, will today urge President Bush at a White House meeting to sever all contact with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, writes David Horovitz, in Jerusalem
But although Mr Bush has no intention of holding personal contacts with the Palestinian leader, he is expected to make clear that Mr Arafat is the elected leader of the Palestinian people, and a potential partner in peace negotiations if his Palestinian Authority makes a genuine effort to thwart attacks on Israeli targets. The killing at the Hamra settlement ended a day of violence and tension in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
According to initial reports, a Palestinian gunman entered the greenhouse area of the settlement and opened fire, killing one Israeli and injuring four others, and then reportedly took a family hostage in their house. Some reports said that Israeli commandos later stormed the house and killed the gunman.
Earlier, a Palestinian suicide bomber was overpowered on a bus heading from Jerusalem to the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement. The bus driver became suspicious of the man, spotting wires running beneath his jacket, and drove to an army roadblock . Soldiers and passengers overpowered the man, who proved to have explosives strapped around his waist. Israel television reported last night that he was a Hamas activist.
Also yesterday, the Israeli army intercepted a consignment of eight short-range rockets, hidden in sacks of flour, which it said was being delivered by Hamas activists from Nablus to Jenin. Israel's Defence Minister, Mr Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, said the rockets, known as Kassam 2, were intended for "firing on our cities".
Such fire would "dramatically change" the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation, said Mr Ben-Eliezer, who is completing a visit to the US. He said Israel would be "forced to react appropriately - apparently referring to a large-scale military incursion into Palestinian-controlled territory.
In East Jerusalem, meanwhile, the city council demolished three Palestinian homes it said had been built without necessary permits, and Mr Ehud Olmert, the city's mayor, was quoted as saying that further such demolitions could be expected every week.
In Ramallah, where he has been trapped for the past two months by the Israeli army, Mr Arafat condemned the demolitions, and in a speech to supporters repeated his declaration that "a million martyrs are marching on Jerusalem" where he seeks to establish the capital of an independent state.
Aides to the Palestinian leader protested that Mr Bush will today be meeting with Mr Sharon for the fourth time in the past year, but that he refuses to meet with Mr Arafat. Mr Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, indicated yesterday that there would be no top-level administration contacts with Mr Arafat unless he moved against Hamas and other militant groups.
"But once the violence is down," Mr Powell said, he was "confident that Israel will reciprocate" by re-engaging with Mr Arafat.
The harsh US stance against Mr Arafat stems mostly from Israel's interception of a 55-ton shipment of Iranian arms aboard the Karine A in the Red Sea last month - a shipment the US has been convinced by Israel was bound for Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Having initially flatly denied any connection, Mr Arafat reportedly wrote to Mr Bush earlier this week, taking "personal responsibility" for the shipment and promising to punish those who had arranged it, although he said he "didn't know about the boat".
Both Mr Sharon and Mr Ben-Eliezer are using their US visits to emphasise that they do not consider Mr Arafat can serve as a viable peace partner.
It was now time, said Mr Ben-Eliezer yesterday, "to open a line of talks with other leaders that are surrounding Arafat and opposing Arafat". He named Mr Mohammed Abbas and Mr Ahmed Qurei, two of Mr Arafat's closest aides, both of who met with Mr Sharon last week, as more appropriate partners.