KILLINGS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Sir, - Ariel Sharon's announcement last weekend that he was droppingthe precondition of a seven-day complete cessation of violence beforepeace negotiations could begin, combined with the removal of therestrictions on Yasser Arafat's movement within the occupiedterritories, seemed momentarily to indicate that Israel was pursuingoptions other then brutal military retaliation.

However, this simply masked some of the largest military operationsby an Israeli army in 20 years. It once more showed Mr Sharon's andIsrael's narrow-minded approach to the escalating conflict.Narrow-minded in the sense that Mr Sharon and his government seemconstricted by rage, consumed by hatred and as a result incapable ofany tactics other then knee-jerk, short-term retaliation.

The mass detention and interrogation of Palestinians in refugeecamps in the West Bank simply generates more Palestinian hatred andfails to achieve any useful results.

As with internment in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, most of thepeople the Israel army was targeting were forewarned and simplydisappeared. As a result the Israeli army harassed and interrogatedinnocent Palestinians, probably gaining little in the way ofintelligence reports, but supplying the Palestinians with more reasonsto doubt the intentions and legitimacy of the Israeli government.

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This does not excuse the targeting of Israeli civilians asretaliation for the illegal occupation of their land. Such attacks willnever persuade the Israeli people or world leaders to support thecreation of a Palestinian state. - Yours, etc.,

Seamount Apartments,

Stillorgan Road,

Co Dublin.