Sharon Talks Tough after F-16 Raids

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged his government would use as much military might as necessary against Palestinians despite scathing criticism on Sunday for using F-16 jets in retaliation for a suicide bombing.

In fresh violence, the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of trying to "assassinate" West Bank Palestinian Security chief Jibril Rajoub whose Ramallah house was hit by three tank shells. At least three security guards were wounded.

The Israeli army denied Rajoub had been targeted.

"We will do everything necessary and use everything we have to protect Israeli citizens," Sharon was quoted as saying in an interview with Israel's largest daily, Yedioth Ahronoth.

Six people, including a suicide bomber from the militant Hamas movement, were killed in the explosion at a shopping mall in the seaside Israeli city of Netanya on Friday.

Hours later, Israeli F-16 fighter-bombers struck Palestinian security compounds in the West Bank and Gaza, killing at least 12 Palestinian policemen and raising Israeli retaliation to a new level in a nearly eight-month-old uprising for independence.

The Palestinian Authority called the Israeli attacks a "serious escalation" and urged the international community and the United States to intervene immediately.

In an interview with NBC, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was asked whether Israel should stop using F-16s. "Yeah, I think they should stop, both sides should stop and think about where they are headed here," he responded.

"POINTLESS" AND "STUPID"

Echoing commentary in other Israeli dailies, Yedioth Ahronoth called the decision to unleash the U.S.-built F-16s in the West Bank for the first time since the 1967 Middle East war "pointless" and "stupid".



Army general Giora Eiland said Israel would not deploy F-16s regularly. "We see it as something that will not be used very often," he said, adding it was done for "tactical" reasons as they provided "the best ammunition" against the targets.

Arab foreign ministers, meeting in Egypt on Saturday, called for the suspension of political contacts with Israel until it halted its military assaults against the Palestinians. They did not call for an outright break in diplomatic ties.

Addressing his security cabinet, Sharon said Israel faced "a lengthy campaign requiring determination and perseverance" -- and pointedly offered "special thanks" to the air force.

The fighting brought new calls for an end to the violence and heightening of a security alert in Israel, where police on the watch for more suicide bombers set up roadblocks that caused traffic jams at the start of the Israeli work week on Sunday.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called on leaders in the region to "do everything in their power immediately to bring into being an unconditional cessation of violence".

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the suicide attack appalling, but branded Israel's response "disproportionate".

GUN BATTLES IN THE WEST BANK

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo accused Israel of trying to "assassinate" the security chief by launching the missiles on Sunday.

"There was no justification for firing the tank shells," he told Reuters, adding that there was no Palestinian shooting in the area.



An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops at an army post, which is around one km (less than a mile) from Rajoub's house, came under Palestinian fire.

The troops first responded with light weapons, and later during a heated exchange of fire shot tank shells at "the precise source of the Palestinian fire", she said. "There was no intention to hurt Jibril Rajoub," she said.

A Preventive Security official said Rajoub was sleeping in his Ramallah house when the shells struck. Abed Rabbo said Rajoub was lucky to be alive as he "happened to be between two rooms and therefore he avoided the shrapnel".

Five Palestinian civilians were hurt in a gunbattle between Israeli troops and Palestinians which erupted after a soldier, posted at the Psagot Jewish settlement, was shot by a sniper.

Three Palestinians were hurt also from tank shells fired by Israeli soldiers battling Palestinian gunmen at a nearby West Bank village.

At least 441 Palestinians, 13 Israeli Arabs and 87 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian uprising began.

In a report on an issue at the heart of the Palestinian uprising -- Jewish settlements -- Israel's Peace Now movement said Sharon's government had set up 15 new sites since taking office in March.

The Peace Now report echoed Palestinian allegations that the building of settlements, illegal under international law, was continuing despite Israel's pledge to construct houses only within existing outposts to accommodate "natural growth".

Israel's Housing Ministry said the building work mentioned in the Peace Now report had taken place in settlements already on the ground, within boundaries set by previous governments.






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