THE MIDDLE EAST: On the day that the daughter of the late Yitzhak Rabin pronounced the Oslo peace accords dead, the Israeli government yesterday approved a further call-up of reservists and sent troops deeper into Palestinian cities. Palestinian officials charge that Israel has now resumed full occupation of the West Bank, and while Israeli officials deny this, all the indications are that the army's presence there will last weeks if not months.
The "Determined Path" military operation, launched in response to three Palestinian attacks that saw 31 Israelis killed last week, has seen little of the heavy fighting that characterised April's massive "Defensive Shield". But officials say the troop presence in West Bank cities will be far more prolonged this time. The Israeli Defence Minister, Mr Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, was adamant yesterday that it did not represent a semi-permanent reoccupation of the West Bank, and that Israel did not intend to take over responsibility for Palestinian civil affairs. But a former head of the Israeli Civil Administration there, Brig Gen Gadi Zohar, said this would become inevitable "sooner or later". The Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat said Israel was making "a fatal mistake to re-occupy again these Palestinian territories". And Mr Marwan Muasher, the Jordanian Foreign Minister who visited Mr Arafat yesterday, said it was "unacceptable" for Israel to "reoccupy Palestinian cities and to turn the clock back". With reservists responding en masse to the emergency call-up orders, the army yesterday added Qalkilya to the list of West Bank cities, already including Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem, where it is deployed, sending dozens of tanks and other vehicles there early yesterday morning. Many areas are under stringent curfew. A Palestinian policeman was reported killed in fighting outside Jenin.
Mr Ben-Eliezer said he was now receiving innumerable intelligence tip-offs daily about suicide-bombers. With the Israeli government already discussing exiling, from the West Bank to Gaza, the families of bombers and those behind the attacks, Gen Gilead said that Mr Arafat was also not immune from that threat. Mr Arafat accused Israel of effectively abrogating the Oslo peace accords under which he gained control of the West Bank cities.
As the PA yesterday began arresting Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders in Gaza, there were reports that some groups loyal to Mr Arafat might be weighing a halt to suicide bombings inside Israel. But his Fatah Youth also issued a pamphlet branding Mr Sari Nusseibeh and other prominent Palestinians traitors for urging a halt to such attacks.
Deaglán de Bréadún writes: A two-state solution was the only way forward in the Middle East, Ireland has told the UN Security Council. Ambassador Gerard Corr said the proposed international conference offered "the best hope at present for moving beyond conflict" and should take place as soon as possible.