Date: 12:05 PM 12/4/01 +0100

From: azad

Subject: romigrantsocialforum- palestina ultimora: missili contr

 

Dal sito de L'Unit (Fonte Ansa)

 

 

 

Ramallah, missili israeliani contro gli uffici di Arafat

 

 

Anche gli uffici di Arafat a Ramallah, in Cisgiordania, sono stati attaccati marted mattina dopo che ieri a Gaza erano stati distrutti gli eleicotteri che il presidente palestinese usa per i suoi spostamenti. Almeno quattro missili sono stati tirati da elicotteri israeliani contro la sede di Arafat. Non si hanno per il momento notizie di vittime.

 

 

 

Sharon: L'Anp organizzazione terrorista. Peres minaccia di uscire dal governo

 

Frattura nel governo israeliano tra i ministri di destra e quelli laburisti, che marted notte hanno lasciato la riunione del gabinetto per non votare una documento che chiedeva la distruzione dellAutorit nazionale palestinese, definita dal governo israeliano entit che sostiene il terrorismo e organizzazione terroristiche la guardia presidenziale di Arafat e la milizia Tanzim, vicina allorganizzazione Fatah. Ma lAnp ha respinto con sdegno la posizione dei ministri ebrei. La fonte del terrorismo ha detto il ministro dellinformazione palestinese Yasser Abed Rabbo loccupazione ebraica dei territori palestinesi.

A denunciare la pericolosa deriva dellesecutivo israeliano il ministro degli Shimon Peres. Il suo consigliere politico, Yoram Dori, ha detto che alcuni ministri hanno proposto al governo di basarsi nei confronti dei palestinesi esclusivamente sul ricorso alla forza, senza alcuna prospettiva politica. Di conseguenza, ha concluso Dori, i ministri laburisti hanno deciso di non partecipare al voto che ha concluso la seduta del governo e nei prossimi giorni valuteranno la situazione. Comunque termine della riunione di governo, l'esecutivo israeliano ha dichiarato l'Autorit nazionale palestinese entit che sostiene il terrorismo e definito la milizia Tanzim, vicina all'organizzazione Fatah di Arafat, e Forza 17, la guardia presidenziale, organizzazioni terroristiche.

Latteggiamento del governo Sharon rischia di precipitare ulteriormente la gi drammatica crisi mediorientale, lasciando alle armi e alla violenza il compito di risolvere il contenzioso tra israeliani e palestinesi. Ieri Arafat aveva accusato Israele di volere la distruzione dellAnp, lunica voce politica palestinese in grado di essere un interlocutore credibile e moderato degli israeliani. Anzi, l'Anp ha rimandato al mittente tutti gli addebiti affermando per bocca di Yasser Abed Rabbo, ministro dell'Informazione, che la fonte del terrorismo l'occupazione ebraica della Cisgiordania e della Striscia di Gaza, e che l'atteggiamento assunto da Israele dopo i sanguinosi attentati del fine settimana a Gerusalemme e a Haifa renderanno le prospettive di pace persino pi remote di quanto mai lo siano state, anche dopo quattordici mesi ininterrotti di violenza: da quando, a fine settembre 2000, la provocatoria passeggiata proprio di Sharon sulla Spianata delle Moschee scaten la attuale rivolta palestinese chiamata Intifada di al-Aqsa.

La presa di posizione del governo ha creato forte tensione anche nel partito laburista israeliano. Avraham Burg, presidente della Knesset (il parlamento israeliano), candidato alla guida dei laburisti, ha detto che Sharon dimostra di non avere la minima prospettiva politica per una soluzione del conflitto con i palestinesi. Oggi il partito laburista prender in esame la possibilit di abbandonare il governo. Ma non si prevedono decisioni immediate in quanto il ministro degli esteri Shimon Peres in partenza per la Romania, dove incontrer il Segretario di stato americano Colin Powell, e anche il ministro dei trasporti Efraim Sneh, che ieri ha criticato il bombardamento dell'eliporto di Gaza, in partenza per l'estero.

 

 

 

Israel pounds Palestinian targets

 

December 4, 2001 Posted: 5:43 AM EST (1043 GMT)

 

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Israeli warplanes and helicopters have launched a fresh round of attacks on Palestinian targets in the West Bank and Gaza.

 

The strikes against five targets -- two in Gaza and three in the West Bank -- come after weekend suicide bombings in which 25 Israelis died and hours after the Israeli Cabinet said the Palestinian Authority was "a terrorist supporting entity."

 

At least two people were reported killed in the attacks on targets in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Scores have been injured, Palestinian sources say.

 

The strikes on Tuesday began with two Israeli Cobra helicopters firing rockets which struck a building adjacent to the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Officials said Arafat was unhurt.

 

CNN's Matthew Chance then reported a "ferocious" assault by warplanes and helicopter gunships on targets in Gaza City. He said Palestinian officials said missiles had hit the Palestinian Offices of Preventive Security.

 

Chance saw missiles fired and heard heavy machine gun fire. Palestinian sources said the Khan Yunis refugee camp had also been hit.

 

He said there was "widespread pandemonium" in Gaza City, with people running out of buildings and ambulances "screaming through the streets." He said there was no information on whether there had been casualties.

 

He said Palestinian officials said Arafat's presidential compound in Gaza had also been hit.

 

Earlier, Arafat spokesman Nabil Adu Rudieneh said four missiles struck the building in Ramallah used for Palestinian interior affairs, only separated by a wall from Arafat's offices.

 

Rudieneh said the Palestinian Authority considers the strike an escalation and said it proves Israel is looking for targets to weaken the Palestinian infrastructure.

 

Israel military sources said the target of the missile strike in Ramallah was the Hamas and Islamic Jihad apparatus linked to the recent terror attacks in Israel at the weekend.

 

CNN's Jerrold Kessel said Israel had confirmed it had launched strikes on five targets, two in Gaza and three in the West Bank.

 

Earlier Tuesday, Israel moved tanks to within striking distance of the office where Arafat was working, an aide said. Tanks had already entered Gaza City International Airport in Gaza, followed by bulldozers that began ripping up parts of the runway, said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat.

 

Erakat said tanks have also entered the Palestinian town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, the town of Al Bireh in Ramallah and the town of Nablus in the West Bank.

 

Ten Israeli tanks also were positioned near Arafat's Ramallah office while he was inside, Erakat said.

 

There was no immediate confirmation of the tank movement from the Israel Defense Forces.

 

Israeli air attacks at dusk Monday destroyed the residences of Arafat's guards in Gaza City as well as two of Arafat's helicopters and the landing pad, Palestinian Cabinet member Nabil Sha'ath told CNN.

 

Gaza hospitals said at least 15 people were treated for injuries -- none serious -- while Palestinian medical relief organizations reported dozens of injuries.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon blamed Arafat for the weekend bombings that killed 25 Israelis, all but one of them civilians and many of them young people, and wounded hundreds in Jerusalem and Haifa. Three Palestinians blew themselves up in a pedestrian mall and on a bus.

 

"Israel does not open wars," Sharon said at a news conference. "We know who has brought it on us -- Arafat is responsible for everything that is happening here."

 

Following the news conference, Israeli F-16s attacked the civil police headquarters and Palestinian Authority offices in the West Bank town of Jenin, the Israel Defense Forces said.

 

Palestinian security sources said the Palestinian police headquarters was destroyed but there were no injuries because the building had been evacuated before the attacks.

 

Palestinian security sources also said an intelligence officer was killed in an explosion in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. That explosion is still under investigation. The Israeli military denied it struck any targets in Bethlehem.

 

Also in the West Bank, a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli gunfire overnight, a Palestinian source told CNN Tuesday morning.

 

The Nablus governor's office identified the man as Amjad Toubasi.

 

Responding to Sharon's speech, Erakat said Sharon had issued a declaration of war.

 

"He is saying 'war, war, war now, peace later.' I think he is making the mistake of his life," said Erakat, who called on the United States and European leaders to "stop Sharon."

 

In Gaza, Arafat's nearby headquarters were not hit in Monday's attacks, Sha'ath said. The Palestinian leader was in the West Bank town of Ramallah at the time of the Gaza attacks.

 

Sharon would not say if Israel was planning to remove Arafat from his role as Palestinian Authority president, saying the government would "take the necessary steps to decide in due time."

 

In Gaza, Israeli helicopters fired as many as 10 missiles on Monday, according to witnesses, and video of the scene showed machine gun fire from the choppers.

 

Sharon's spokesman, Ra'anan Gissin, said Arafat's headquarters and residence in Gaza City were not the target.

 

"We had no intention of striking his home or his compound. ... These were not targeted, I want to make that very clear," Gissin told CNN. "We have destroyed his helicopter and we attacked the landing pad ... and the garage of the helicopter, just a very clear signal that he will have to pay a price if he doesn't comply and stand by the agreements he signed."

 

Palestinian security forces arrested two Hamas leaders Sunday, as well as dozens of other members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, after Arafat declared a state of emergency following the bombings.

 

Erakat denounced Monday's attacks, saying they would just breed more violence.

 

"Stop finger-pointing and accusing Arafat, " Erakat said. "There are more than 200 ... Palestinians who were arrested because we are following up and pursuing those who planned the attacks on Israel."

 

But Gideon Mayer of Israel's Foreign Ministry called the arrests "a fairy tale, Arafat-style."

 

"(Arafat) is not really arresting," Mayer said. "You don't do it in front of the cameras. This was a show to all of the world because he wanted a two-day quiet (period) after the massive terrorist attacks in Israel."

 

In Washington on Monday, a senior Bush administration official involved with the Middle East told CNN that Israeli attacks on Palestinian Authority facilities were a "clear message to Arafat that not only is Israel fed up, we are fed up as well."

 

The official said that the United States is "not urging restraint" in response to this weekend's four bombings against Israel but is merely cautioning the Israelis to "avoid civilian causalities and think of the day after."

 

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer refused to directly endorse Sharon's statement that Arafat is entirely to blame for the recent violence, but he said Arafat must show more of a commitment to peace.

 

"The president thinks this is the chance now for Yasser Arafat to demonstrate real leadership that is lasting, that is enduring, that puts people responsible for this away, and does so in such a way that they can't get out again and commit more terror," Fleischer said. "The president thinks it is very important that the Palestinian jails not only have bars on the front but no longer have revolving doors at the back."

 

Fleischer shied away from endorsing Sharon's direct comparison between Israel's retaliation and the United States' war on terrorism.

 

"The president has made clear all along that there can be no good terrorists and no bad terrorists, and I'll leave it at that," Fleischer said.

 

CNN Producer Larry Register contributed to this report.

 

 

 

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