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Desperate measures

ISRAEL'S RECENT MURDEROUS assault on the Gaza Strip, in which 11 Palestinians were killed and a hundred wounded, marked a further intensification of the violent policy it has pursued. Civilians appear to have been deliberately targeted in the most shocking of the five separate incidents of rocket fire by Israel. An initial rocket attack on a car supposedly containing Palestinian militants was followed within a few minutes by a second strike in the area. Those killed in the second attack were civilians attempting to rescue the occupants of the car. Israel denied it had killed any civilians in the attacks. However, the Palestinians have the bodies of the dead and the words of the wounded to substantiate their narrative while Israel has no better evidence than a video-tape produced a day after the outrage. Sober Israeli analysts, who preferred to believe the Palestinian version, castigated their Government for abandoning a policy that had protected their country from international ostracism in the past. Many hundreds of innocent Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military, especially in the last three years. Until recently, Israel at least tried to maintain the fiction that civilian deaths were the regrettable consequences of the military operations it undertook to protect itself from terrorist outrages. The October 20 attacks appear to show that the hawkish right-wing elements who currently rule Israel have cast aside the last shred of restraint.

Even as the assaults were under way in the Gaza Strip, Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, reiterated his intent to eliminate the Palestinian Authority President, Yasser Arafat. An armoured column that entered Ramallah on October 21 did not go near Mr. Arafat's headquarters. However, Israel can easily redirect the thrust of similar raids in future so as to attain Mr. Sharon's objective. The international community has put Israel on notice that it will react very adversely to any such measure. Israel's intelligence agencies have also warned that the fallout of such action would be uncontrollable. Mr. Sharon, who has displayed a streak of utter ruthlessness through his military and political career, is not likely to be deterred. Israeli hawks have no interest in a fair and just settlement of the dispute since it would terminate their illegal occupation of Palestinian land. The threat against Mr. Arafat is also intended to ensure that neither Prime Minister, Ahmed Qureia, nor any other Palestinian leader will launch a peace initiative. They cannot negotiate or take action against the extremist fringe of their national movement when they are under so much pressure from Israel. This enables the Israeli Right to claim that there is no negotiating partner on the Palestinian side.

Mr. Sharon's actions appear to be directed against the Israeli peace camp as well. It was no coincidence that he ordered the latest escalation a day after Israeli and Palestinian peace activists finalised the draft of a comprehensive agreement. Initial surveys reveal that a majority of Israelis are inclined to accept a final settlement that incorporates the measures outlined in this non-official agreement. Encouraged by these findings, pro-peace Israelis are set to launch a door-to-door campaign to mobilise support. The Palestinians have exposed Mr. Sharon's claim that they are not ready to make peace by participating in negotiations that can lead to an outcome acceptable to both sides. The Israeli right-wing will go to any extreme to block this peace initiative before it gathers momentum. It has denounced those who participated in the talks as traitors to the national cause, but cannot do much more against the peace camp. The world has witnessed in horror that such constraints do not apply in respect of Palestinians.

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