JERUSALEM Ñ Israel has given the Palestinian Authority a list of 36 suspected insurgency leaders in what officials termed a last chance for Yasser Arafat to preserve his regime.

The Israeli list was relayed through Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Peres said Arafat has until early Thursday to arrest what he termed are the leaders of Palestinian suicide-bombings in the Jewish state. They include members of Arafat's Fatah movement and the opposition Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Peres said he spoke twice on the telephone with Arafat on Wednesday. The foreign minister said Israel was providing the PA with safe passage for Palestinian security officers to move through the West Bank to arrest the insurgents.

"I told him that the matter is in your hands and only in your hands," Peres said.

Israeli officials said the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged to the United States that the military will not destroy the PA. They said the Israeli pledge included a ban on bombing of PA jails.

For his part, Sharon said the lull in the air attacks on the PA was connected to the poor weather that has grounded air force helicopters and combat jets.

So far, Arafat's security forces have arrested nearly 150 Islamic militants. This included a roundup of Islamic militants in West Bank cities overnight Thursday. Israeli officials said those arrested were largely unconnected to the suicide bombings.

On Wednesday, 10 Israelis were slightly injured by a Palestinian suicide bomber who blew himself up outside a prominent hotel in downtown Jerusalem.

The hotel was used for overnight lodging by two Israeli ministers.

Israeli security officials said two other Palestinian suicide bombers have entered Israel and are planning to blow themselves up. The officials said the bombers have been in Israel for a week, aided by Israeli Arabs.

Overnight Thursday, Israeli commandos captured two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who were said to have been on their way to bomb an Israeli target. Hours later, Palestinian gunners fired mortars toward Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Print this Article

Email this article

Free Headline Alerts