Israel losing patience with increased Hizbullah, Palestinian attacks

JERUSALEM — Israel's military is warning that its patience is wearing thin in the face of Hizbullah attacks along the northern border and Palestinian violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israeli military sources said commanders are preparing for a massive response to continued Hizbullah and Palestinian attacks. They said plans have been drafted and in some cases approved for major retaliatory strikes.

The latest warning of such retaliation came from Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz. The general said attacks on Israel have increased significantly over the last month.

On late Wednesday, police were summoned to defuse a bomb in downtown Tel Aviv that was to have been detonated by a cellular phone. The bomb, contained in a briefcase, was detonated by police sappers and damaged a restaurant.

Hours later, Palestinian snipers shot at Israeli motorists near a northern Jerusalem bridge in the fourth such attack since the mini-war began in late September. At least one motorist was wounded.

In the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm, Israeli commandos failed in an assassination attempt of a member of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, Palestinian sources said.

Israeli officials and military commanders said the consensus in both the government and in defense circles is that Israel cannot tolerate many more Palestinian attacks. They envisioned a massive Israeli offensive within months if not weeks.

"I believe that we will not be able to contain ourselves without limits and the continuation of attack on our land will force us to respond," Mofaz said in an address to American Jewish leaders on Wednesday. "I have to point out again and say that we didn't respond after the last terror activity because we didn't want to escalate the situation in the northern part of Israel."

Mofaz said Arafat is behind the increase in Palestinian attacks. He said Arafat tells his security chiefs to stop terrorism while ordering other aides to launch attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The general said Arafat's forces are stockpiling anti-aircraft, anti-tank missiles, mortars and other weapons. He said many these weapons are smuggled from Egypt.

"The implication is that the Authority is being converted into a terrorist entity," Mofaz said. "I believe the leaders of the PA are speaking with two languages. One is giving orders to the officers and policemen to stop the violence and to try to implement some level of anti-terror activity. But the second voice and the second language they are telling to the Fatah movement and to the Hamas and the [Islamic] Jihad to continue the terrorist attacks."

Several Israeli left-wing politicians criticized Mofaz, saying this was not the first time he publicly discussed issues that were outside his scope of responsibility. The critics included Labor Party leader Shimon Peres, slated to become foreign minister in the government of Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon.

In Ramallah, Fatah chief Marwan Barghouti told the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat that he would refuse to obey any order from Arafat to stop the mini-war in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But Barghouti said he could not imagine Arafat issuing such an command.

In his address, Mofaz also called on the United States to maintain sanctions on Iran. The general suggested that the Iranian threat to Israel remained greater than that posed by Iraq.