CNN - Peres applauds Arafat for crackdown

Peres applauds Arafat for crackdown

Israeli troops briefly ease
travel blockades in West Bank

March 11, 1996
Web posted at: 4:20 p.m. EST (2120 GMT)

JERUSALEM, Israel (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres closed ranks Monday with Yasser Arafat ahead of a "Summit of Peacemakers," applauding the Palestinian leader for clamping down on Islamic militants.

But Peres' praise wasn't unqualified. The Israeli leader was quick to remind Arafat that three leaders of Hamas' military wing are still at large.

It was the Izzedine al-Qassem, the military arm of Hamas, that recently carried out the series of suicide bombings in Israel that have so far killed more than 62 people.

Peres told reporters Monday that the Palestinian leader had met two out of three Israeli demands -- outlawing Muslim militant groups and confiscating their weapons. But he said Arafat had delivered on only part of Israel's third demand: to arrest six leaders of the Izzedine al-Qassem.

"There are six persons who are really running the show," Peres told reporters. "He (Arafat) has arrested three and we expect him to arrest the other three who are still at large.

Palestinian police arrested three leaders of the Qassem on Sunday in Gaza and took into custody a top Hamas political official, Sayed Abu Musameh.

Still heading the list of fugitives is Mohammed Deif, the commander of Izzedine al-Qassam, who is believed to have masterminded the bombings in Israel.

Qassem has reportedly vowed to carry out more attacks in defiance of the two-pronged Israeli-PLO offensive in which more than 600 alleged militants have been arrested in Palestinian areas and about 200 in territory occupied by Israel.

Some Palestinians view the crackdown by Israeli troops as motivated by vengeance, not peace.

"Let Peres, Arafat, Mubarak and Hussein come here and see our misery. ... There are 35 people in this house and he was the only breadwinner."

-- A Palestinian father's lament after Israeli troops arrested his son.

Israel briefly eases travel blockade

In the West Bank and Gaza, Israeli soldiers Monday briefly eased a weeklong military blockade to let residents stock up on supplies. Israel had sealed the West Bank and Gaza to keep Hamas militants from crossing over with more bombs.

The imposed closure bars Palestinians from working in the Jewish state or even traveling from one village to another, and prevents goods from coming in or going out.

Peres has said he would not remove the barricades around the communities until Palestinian police crush Hamas, arresting all 13 Hamas leaders on Israel's wanted list, including some who are not with Izzedine al-Qassam.

Arafat said the travel restrictions have pushed residents of the Gaza Strip to the brink of starvation.

"The Israelis are trying to turn the clock back," said the Palestinian Authority's Saed Erekat. "If this continues, it will be the classical recipe for the escalation of violence and counter violence."

U.N. officials disputed Arafat's depressing account of the situation in Gaza, saying Monday that nobody was going hungry. But they admitted supplies were running low and said that the agency was considering an emergency food distribution.

Ron Wilkinson, spokesperson for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, said the situation could become critical if the closure remains in effect for another week.

And physicians and human rights activists said Monday that the closure has cut people off from doctors and hospitals, contributing to at least two deaths.

Iran decries Hamas suicide bombing

In Iran, President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani decried the Hamas suicide bombings but declined to condemn the group itself. Iran has been accused by the United States and Israel of backing Islamic militants.

Rafsanjani told a news conference Monday that the Islamic republic supports "the rightful struggle of Palestinians." "We will not support them (Hamas) in practice but they have not asked us," he said.

The Iranian president also dismissed the international anti-terrorism summit scheduled for Wednesday at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh as a propaganda conference. "Since it is directed by the United States we have no hope that something valuable will come out of it," he said.

Iran has not been invited to the summit.

Peres and Arafat, along with leaders of 31 countries, including U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russia's Boris Yeltsin, are to participate in the summit.

In Lebanon, the leader of the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah also denounced the summit. Hezbollah guerrillas are fighting to oust Israel from the border enclave it occupies in south Lebanon.

Lebanon announced Monday that it would not attend the summit. Syria also is expected to boycott the meeting, and Libya, which the United States has accused of supporting terrorism, has already said it will not attend.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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