JERUSALEM (REUTERS) — Israel warned it will step up military strikes against targets in Palestinian-ruled areas until Yasser Arafat cracks down on militants behind deadly suicide attacks in the Jewish state.
Israeli warplanes and helicopters launched their fiercest attacks in 14 months of conflict on Tuesday, firing one missile just yards away from the Palestinian president’s West Bank office while he was inside.
Arafat was not hurt, but a 15-year-old bystander and a policeman were killed in Gaza and dozens were wounded in the largest simultaneous air strikes since the start of a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
Israeli air operations were halted overnight as a storm front swept through the region, but troops held on to positions on the outskirts of Palestinian cities and towns.
Lending fresh U.S. support to Israel’s military retaliation, President Bush said U.S. allies had an obligation to help bring “terrorists to justice if we want peace in the Middle East.”
When fighter planes and helicopter gunships pounded a Palestinian security post in densely populated Gaza City on Tuesday, shrapnel tore into dozens of schoolchildren nearby. A 15-year-old boy was killed.
Panic and screams filled the street. “Did you see my son?” pleaded one woman. “Did you see Ali?” cried another as ambulance sirens wailed.
The Israeli army said warplanes struck only military targets in Gaza.
Tougher action
Raanan Gissin, a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Israel was prepared to launch an even tougher campaign unless Arafat’s Palestinian Authority reined in militants who have been attacking Israelis.
“If Arafat and the Palestinian Authority take no action, you are going to see … continuous attacks that will be every day, every two days,” Gissin told Reuters Tuesday. “Every place we find terrorists we will attack. It could be day or night, by land, by air, by sea.”
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed-Rabbo said Sharon’s true motive was to torpedo Palestinian efforts to create an independent state: “This is a war against Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority and not against terror.”
Israel sent its forces into action in response to one of the deadliest waves of Palestinian suicide bombings in years. Twenty-five people were killed and 200 wounded in last weekend’s attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa.
The militant group Hamas claimed responsibility, but Israel blamed Arafat, saying he allowed militants to act with impunity.
The latest round of tit-for-tat violence appears to have sidelined a new U.S. peace mission launched last week by former Marine Corps general Anthony Zinni. Washington wants peace in the Middle East so it can cement Arab support for its war against terrorism.
A State Department spokesman said Zinni would stay in the region “at this point” to try to arrange a cease-fire. At least 745 Palestinians and 222 Israelis have been killed since the uprising began in September 2000.
Terror accusation
Sharon’s cabinet branded Arafat’s Palestinian Authority a “terror-supporting entity” Tuesday, using language similar to Washington’s when it targeted Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
The cabinet’s decision prompted a walkout by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres’ center-left Labour Party, widening cracks in Sharon’s broad ruling coalition.
In his first public comments since the Israeli offensive began Monday, Arafat took aim at Sharon. “He doesn’t want a peace process to start,” Arafat told CNN.
Arafat was in his Ramallah office when a missile slammed into a police station just outside the compound. Gissin said he was not the target but that the strike was aimed at his elite Force17 unit, which he accused of “terrorist activity.”
Arafat has been effectively grounded in Ramallah after missiles destroyed his helicopters in Gaza and troops advanced to within striking distance of his West Bank headquarters.
The U.S. response to Israel’s retaliatory strikes has angered Palestinians, who are now questioning whether Israel’s staunchest ally can act as a fair peace broker.
Secretary of State Colin Powell waved a flag of caution at Israel, saying it should be aware of the consequences of any action, but stopped short of urging it to stop the attacks.
Bush said in a television interview Tuesday, “At the moment I support the fact that we must root out terror in order for us to get back to a peace process.”
Palestinian officials insist police have moved aggressively to arrest militants since the weekend bombings — despite public opposition — but complain that Israeli attacks hamper their efforts to crack down. Israel says the detentions are a sham.
