Arafat accuses Iran
of derailing peaceIsrael eases West Bank closure
March 16, 1996
Web posted at: 10:40 p.m. EST (0340 GMT)GAZA (CNN) -- PLO leader Yasser Arafat on Friday accused Iran of derailing the Middle East peace process by ordering a wave of suicide bombings in Israel.
"I have the right to ask, 'Who ordered the latest violent attacks?' Iran, Iran ordered them," he said after the weekly meeting of the Palestinian Authority
He also said that some Arab states -- which he did not identify -- had an interest in the suicide bombings, which have left 58 people dead.
"This order ... is not aimed only against the Israeli people or the Israeli government," Arafat told a rally of Palestinian workers in Gaza Saturday. "It is against all the Palestinian nation. They are trying to kill the Palestinian dream of building a state."
Both Israel and the United States have accused Iran of sponsoring militant groups such as Hamas, but Teheran has denied the charges. An armed wing of Hamas had claimed responsibility for some of the bombings in Israel.
Arafat said Palestinians and the "Israeli peace camp" had a common cause in battling extremists on both sides, which he said include Islamic militants and right-wing Israelis.
Israel lets up in West Bank
Israel Saturday announced further steps to ease the closure on the Gaza and West Bank. Authorities said beginning Sunday, goods from Gaza would be allowed into Israel after undergoing heavy security checks.
On Friday, Israel lifted an internal closure on the West Bank that had restricted Palestinians to their towns.
Israel sealed off the territory on February 25 after the first of four suicide bombings in a bid to halt further attacks and has used the blockade to pressure Arafat to crack down on Muslim militants.
On Saturday, about 2,000 Palestinians participated in a rally against the blockade. One sign read: "Beware of our hunger."
The workers have been frustrated with the three-week blockade, which has halted exports and caused severe unemployment and food shortages in the Palestinian enclaves.
At Erez, a crossing point from Gaza to Israel, Palestinian demonstrators chanted "Peres, open Erez," and pelted Israeli soldiers with potatoes, tomatoes and flowers, all rotting because they could not be taken to market.
The Palestinian Health Ministry on Saturday attributed seven deaths to the closure. In a report, it said Israeli soldiers had held up seriously ill patients at roadblocks or refused to permit patients who needed treatment at certain hospitals to go to them.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Authority's executive member, Yasser Abed-Rabbo, said Israel's measures were undermining the peace process and escalating tensions "that leads to terrorism and violence."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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