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Politics : Middle East Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: maceng2 who wrote (148)	12/14/2001 3:51:36 AM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6945

Four dead in fresh Israeli assault news.bbc.co.uk Four Palestinians have been killed and several others injured as Israel moved tanks and troops into the West Bank, further sinking any hopes for a US-brokered truce in the region. There are plenty of people surrounding Arafat who think differently to him and we are holding negotiations with these people Israeli forces shot dead a man on their most-wanted list and killed three Palestinian police officers when they entered the village of Salfit, near Nablus. There was no immediate word on casualties in the second raid on Dura, near Hebron. Israel has been carrying out such raids in parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank in recent weeks to take out alleged militants, declaring Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ineffective in quelling their activity. In an interview published in the German daily Bild on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister said Mr Arafat was "history" and announced he was already holding talks with alternative Palestinian leaders. "And if in our negotiations with a new Palestinian leadership we do not come to a peaceful solution, the Israeli military will move into the Palestinian territories to see to order there," the newspaper quoted him as saying. Washington's envoy to the Middle East, Anthony Zinni, is expected to make an announcement later on Friday about the next steps he plans to take in his attempts to curb violence in the region. The Israeli ground assaults followed a wave of attacks on Palestinian targets in the past two days. At least four Palestinians - including two teenage boys - died on Thursday and about 20 others were wounded. Israeli tanks had entered Ramallah and taken up positions close to Mr Arafat's headquarters, while sappers destroyed a nearby television and radio centre. BBC Middle East correspondent James Reynolds says the strikes have a clear aim - to destroy Palestinian Authority institutions. Palestinian officials insist they are doing all they can in difficult circumstances, and say it is difficult for their police force to arrest militants while their police stations are being bombed. But since the latest round of Israeli attacks began, Mr Arafat has gradually moved away from his promise to crack down on Palestinian terrorists and close Hamas and Islamic Jihad offices. "It's impossible for the Palestinian leadership to implement its commitment under the shadow of this comprehensive war," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said. The United Nations Security Council has met in closed session to discuss Israel's decision to cut all ties with Mr Arafat. Arab nations and the Palestinians had called for an open meeting and a vote on the issue. The Security Council will resume its discussions later on Friday. The Vatican has condemned the violence, and says there will never be peace in the Middle East until Israel withdraws from the occupied territories and allows the creation of a Palestinian state. The statement from the Roman Catholic church was released after a meeting of bishops from the Middle East.