OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 3 June — A tough Israeli response to the Tel Aviv nightclub bombing looked unlikely last evening, as Israel gave Palestinian President Yasser Arafat 24 hours to carry out his promise that he would do “whatever is necessary” to achieve a “cease-fire”. Following Arafat’s pledge, Israel’s inner security Cabinet gave Arafat no more than 24 hours to prove he wants to work to calm the violent situation in the region, according to Israeli radio.
A high-ranking Palestinian official protested “Israeli threats” following the announcement of a 24-hour deadline. “The language of threats and warnings does not serve peace and resorting to force will not lead to the peace Israelis want”, reporters. The Tel Aviv suicide bombing, which left 19 dead and more than 100 injured, was the deadliest incident so far in the eight-month Palestinian intifada (uprising) against Israeli occupation, and brought the death toll to nearly 600. The Gaza Strip was eerily silent yesterday, with Palestinians evacuating public buildings for fear that Israel would abandon its 10-day-old unilateral “cease-fire” and come at them with all guns blazing, witnesses said.
Israeli Army also barred Arafat from leaving Gaza for Ramallah as they closed the Gaza airport. The Israeli Army said it had imposed a blockade on all Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank and ordered all Palestinians to leave Israel immediately.
In Riyadh, Governor Prince Salman yesterday visited the Palestinian Embassy and conveyed the condolences of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, on the death of Palestinian leader Faisal Al-Husseini.
Despite wide Israeli skepticism over Arafat’s declaration, Israeli Arab parliament member Ahmad Tibi told Israeli television that Arafat had already started to work for a cease-fire. “Arafat made an important declaration to that effect and has started to phone his aides over the past hours in order to make sure his commitment to a return to calm is carried out in the field”, Tibi said after a meeting with Arafat. Hundreds of Israelis chanting “Death to Arabs” and hurling stones attacked a mosque yesterday across the street from the club. At least 17 people were wounded in the confrontation outside the Hassan Bek Mosque as Israeli security forces tried to disperse the crowd. Dark smoke wafted over the site as water cannons hosed down a car set ablaze by protesters.
The Palestinian Authority “strongly” condemned the bombing and rejected Israeli accusations that it was responsible. “The government of Israel commits a big mistake when it points its accusation against the Palestinian National Authority (PNA),” Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said in a statement in Ramallah received by AFP yesterday. “We strongly condemn this act and do not consider any of the PNA’s institutions responsible for this action,” Abed Rabbo said.
