TEL AVIV Ñ After a lull of several weeks, Palestinian insurgents
have resumed suicide attacks against Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was in a meeting with President
George Bush, decided to cut short his visit to the United States and return
to Israel. Sharon said he would convene his senior ministers to decide on a
military response.
"This situation can no longer continue," Sharon said. "I came here to
make an effort for peace. What I received is what you now see."
Sources said Bush rejected Sharon's appeal to exile Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Middle East Newsline reported. Instead, Bush decided to send CIA director
George Tenet to help organize a Palestinian security force to fight
insurgency attacks against Israel. The president called on Arafat to merge
his numerous security forces into one agency.
A suicide bomber blew himself up in a billiard hall in the Israeli city
of Rishon LeZion south of Tel Aviv. At least 16 people were killed and 55
were injured in the attack on late Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a Palestinian was killed as he was carrying a bomb in
northern Israel. The Palestinian was believed to have infiltrated from the
northern West Bank city of Jenin, the target of an Israeli military
offensive last month.
The Islamic opposition Hamas movement claimed responsibility for the
blast. Hamas did not identify the bomber or say where he came from.
It was the first bombing in Israel in a month and took place amid an
intelligence alert of a renewal of Palestinian insurgency attacks. Hamas
spokesman Mahmoud Zahar said the bombing was meant to demonstrate that
Israel's military offensive in the West Bank last month failed to stop what
he termed Palestinian resistance.
A senior administration official said Sharon did not raise any Israeli
request for additional U.S. weapons during his meeting with Bush. The
official said the prime minister also did not ask for additional U.S.
economic or military aid from Washington.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian gunners fired mortar shells toward
Israeli communities. At the same time, Israeli troops foiled an attempt by
Palestinian attackers to infiltrate the Jewish community of Morag in the
southern portion of the strip.