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Arafat Criticizes Israeli Failure to Honor Agreements to Quell Violence
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday criticized Israel for failing to implement the agreements reached between the two sides to quell the nearly six weeks of violence in Palestinian territories.
In an interview with Chinese reporters in his Gaza office, Arafat further accused Israel of violating what have been agreed upon by stepping up "the aggression, the attack, the siege against our people, even against our children at schools."
"They are continuing the aggression by all means and in different ways," he said.
In nearly six weeks of clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protestors, about 180 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,000 others wounded.
The Israeli forces even sent helicopter gunships and tanks, and fired missiles at Palestinian targets in excessive use of military force, which has been widely condemned by the world community.
During a summit in mid-October in Egypt, Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to take steps, including Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, to end the violence.
Last Wednesday, Arafat met with former Israeli prime minister Simon Peres in Gaza and reached an understanding to calm down the tense situation. But the two sides have so far failed to materialize the agreement.
"I'm sorry to tell you that Barak had not accepted to implement what I had agreed upon with Mr. Peres. And instead of easing the situation, stopping the aggression, lifting the siege of our cities and towns, they are escalating more and more," Arafat said.
He said that he was "definitely not" optimistic about the peace process with Israel.
"This malicious aggression from the Israeli side is to destroy the peace process and they are continuing this line," he added.
The Palestinian leader expressed doubt that a final settlement on Palestinian-Israeli conflict would be reached with Barak in the future "because his strategy is to cancel the peace process and the agreements which have been signed."
Arafat called for international pressure and international involvement to "stop this savagery, this terrible aggression, to stop the bloodshed of our people."
He said the Palestinians are asking the United Nations to send a peace-keeping force to protect them from Israeli attacks.
But Israel has expressed opposition to the deployment of an international force in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
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