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Israel Continues to Defy US Call for Troop Withdrawal
Israel Tuesday continued to reject the US demand that its troops be immediately pulled out of the A areas under full Palestinian control in the West Bank.
During a tour of the north, Israeli Defense Minister Binjamin Ben-Eliezer said that the U.S. demand was "baseless" as Israel has no intention to remain in the Palestinian-controlled towns.
"All Israel wants is to physically protect its citizens from further infiltrations by terrorists or car bombs," Ben-Eliezer was quoted by local media as saying.
He said Israel is prepared to leave the Palestinian areas the moment someone on the other side takes responsibility for negotiations over terms of the withdrawal.
Aids to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Monday night rejected the strong American call for an "immediate" end of the army incursions into six Palestinian towns, saying that the troops will not withdraw unless they achieve their goals there.
Finance Minister Silvan Shalom from Sharon's right-wing Likud Party said Tuesday that Israel had no choice but to remain in Palestinian-controlled areas until Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Yasser Arafat takes measures to extinguish terror.
"The fact that we are there," he told Army Radio, "is seriously cutting down the possibility of a terror attack ... we still have to remain there, until Arafat acts."
Israel sent its troops into the Palestinian towns in the wake of the assassination of its Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi by Palestinian gunmen last Wednesday.
Sharon said that the PNA does not act to detain those on Israel's wanted list, adding that the Israeli troops would make the arrests. He had reported some progress in this regard.
In the face of Israel's largest massive military operations since the 1993 Oslo peace accords, Arafat stepped up calls for international intervention and urged the United States to pressure Israel to withdraw its troops from the Palestinian territories.
In the meantime, the Islamic resistance movement of Hamas threatened to renew attacks inside Israel following the death of a senior member, Ayman Khaliwa, on Monday.
Khaliwa, who was on Israel's most-wanted list, was killed when a car he was travelling in exploded in the West Bank city of Nablus. Another man in the car was wounded. The Palestinians said the Hamas activist was assassinated by Israel.
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