Israel Defense Forces troops swept into various Palestinian
cities early on Tuesday, seizing more than 160 suspects in
the course of a large-scale raid on Hebron and a manhunt in
the Casbah of Nablus. The army said it was trying to head off
Hamas activity and to gather information on wanted men. Most
of those arrested are expected to be released soon.
Also on Tuesday morning, four mortar shells landed between
the southern Gaza Strip settlements of Atzmona and Slav.
There were no injuries. Palestinian gunners early Tuesday
fired a Qassam rocket, which fell near the security fence
dividing the northern Gaza Strip from the western Negev.
There were no casualties or damage in the incident.
The raid on Hebron, in which troops arrested about 130
Palestinians suspected of involvement with Hamas, comes soon
after Israeli troops shot and killed Abdullah Kawasme, the
Hamas leader in the city. Most of those arrested were Hamas
activists and people with ties to senior wanted Hamas
figures, but none of the most-wanted men were seized in the
raid.
In Nablus the army said it sought locals wanted for carrying
out suicide bombings and other attacks.
In the Jenin area, troops demolished the house of Jalal
Mahameed, who was involved in a suicide bombing near Mei Ami
about four months ago.
There were optimistic reports that some sort of security
agreement among the Palestinians and with Israel is in the
offing. Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials held on
Monday what were described as the first positive talks on an
IDF withdrawal from the northern Gaza Strip. Some optimists
said that the IDF could begin moving out of areas in Gaza as
soon as later this week.
According to one source, the PA is increasingly willing to
make concessions to Israel and to agree to its stipulations
as the prospects of a hudna with Hamas appear close. A
Palestinian mediator who has been shuttling between the sides
said the truce will be open-ended and apply not only to
Israel proper, but also the territories.
Maj.-Gen. Amos Gilad, the coordinator of activities in the
territories, said a hudna is a "threat to peace" that
will enable Hamas to recover its strength and ultimately
restart its campaign of terror. "No hope should be put in
this hudna," he told Israel Radio. "As far as Hamas is
concerned, the hudna is a cease-fire for the purpose
of reorganization, so that it can carry out even harsher acts
of murder.
"It's unacceptable for the PA, Israel, and the US to agree to
a situation in which a certain Hamas leader decides when
progress [on the road map] will be made. It's an easy
solution, that will cost us in blood."
But privately, other officials are maintaining a wait-and-see
attitude. "If they don't offer us something of a
comprehensive scope, then there is nothing to talk about,"
one security official said.
After his talks with Gilad, PA Security Chief Mohammed Dahlan
intimated that he could not take over in Gaza until the PA
reached an agreement with Hamas. He requested that Israel
stop targeted killings, allow freedom of movement on the main
road, cease military operations within the Strip, open the
Rafiah checkpoint 24 hours a day, and refurbish Gaza
International Airport.
OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aharon Ze'evi (Farkash) said that
PA Minister of State for Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan has
the capabilities to control Hamas both in the Gaza Strip and
Judea and Samaria, a diplomatic source said.
Once the IDF pulls back, PA security forces are expected to
take over and prevent attacks on Israelis from those areas
they control.
Reports are that Hamas is increasingly feeling the squeeze in
the post-Iraq war era, with Washington urging Arab nations to
dry up funding and Israel threatening to assassinate its
leaders.
At the conclusion of the World Economic Forum in Jordan, US
Secretary of State Colin Powell reported progress in security
talks. "And I know the Palestinian Authority is hard at work
trying to bring into place a cessation of violence," he
said.
"Even if those [cease-fire] discussions prove fruitful, we
really have to get to a point where the only ones with guns
and military force in any nation has to be the government,"
Powell said.
US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to
arrive in Israel this coming weekend for two days of meetings
with Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials, her first
solo trip to the region as President George W. Bush's
personal Middle East envoy.
While no subsequent visits are yet scheduled, Rice and Powell
are expected to travel to Israel and the PA areas on a
rotation basis over the next several months in an effort to
push forward the road map.
While US President Bush has pledged to be involved personally
in the peace process, he has delegated responsibility for the
"day-to-day negotiations" to Rice and Powell. Bush is
reluctant to personally intervene at every turn. He has yet
to speak to Sharon since the two met in Aqaba nearly three
weeks ago.
