TEL AVIV Ñ Israel has been placed under high alert for the prospect
of a wave of Palestinian suicide attacks amid efforts to expel Yasser
Arafat.
Israeli officials said authorities have received alerts for 40 planned
attacks on civilian targets. They said most of the plots comprise suicide
attacks in Israeli cities.
Over the weekend, Israeli security forces captured a Palestinian
insurgent prepared to launch a suicide attack in Israel. The insurgent was
identified as a member of the ruling Fatah movement.
Officials said authorities also found three suicide belts in the
Jerusalem suburb of Azariya. The belts, which contained 20 kilograms of
explosives, were found in a washing machine in a butcher shop.
Assuming the unassumable
Those who believe that an unplanned, random "Big Bang" explosion of unknown matter caused the formation of the numberless bodies of the cosmos have more faith that fanatics. They also conveniently ignore some obvious points of information:
Read on . . .
The suicide belts were believed to have been prepared by Hamas. The
organization's cell in the West Bank city of Hebron was said to have been
responsible for a series of recent suicide attacks in Jerusalem and other
Israeli cities.
Over the weekend, Fatah organized demonstrations in the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip to protest Israel's plans to deport Arafat. The European
Union, United States and United Nations have expressed their opposition to
the Israeli expulsion of Arafat.
"Deportation is one of the options," Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said. "Liquidation is another option. It is only an issue of
practical considerations. Another option is imprisonment that isolates him
from the world."