OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 10 May — Israel yesterday called up reservists in the run-up to a big offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Cabinet earlier gave the army the go-ahead to avenge Tuesday’s bombing near Tel Aviv that killed 15 Israelis. Israel claims the bomber came from Gaza, but Palestinians yesterday said the man was a resident of the devastated Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
As an Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip loomed, Cyprus said it had agreed to play temporary host to 13 Palestinian fighters now besieged in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem by Israeli troops until a more permanent home had been found for them.
“The Cyprus government has accepted to keep for a few days in transit the 13 Palestinians whose expulsion the government of Israel has demanded,” Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides told a hastily summoned, late-night news conference in Nicosia.
He said a British military aircraft would fly to Tel Aviv from the British air base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, collect the men and land on its return at Cyprus’ Larnaca airport.
He did not say when he expected the fighters to leave Bethlehem. “We hope this will happen as soon as possible,” he said, adding there were still some details to be sorted out.
In Rome diplomatic sources said the countries that have agreed to accept the 13 are Austria, Canada, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain. Earlier Italy had refused to accept the Palestinians as the European Union worked to find other host countries in a bid to end the five-week siege at the church.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians crowded into stores and hoarded supplies for fear of a major Israeli assault. Israeli Army radio said immediate call-up notices were sent to many reservists who were being inducted into their units.
Acting on a pledge by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to arrest those responsible for the bombing, Palestinian police in Gaza arrested 14 members of the Hamas.
US President George W. Bush denied that he had agreed with Israel to sideline Yasser Arafat but cautioned that “time will tell” whether the Palestinian leader is truly committed to peace. Talk of such a deal is “not an accurate reflection of what went on in the Oval Office,” where he met late Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the president told reporters firmly.
Bush’s comments came in response to a question about reports citing Israeli officials as saying he had agreed to Sharon’s push to marginalize Arafat, provided the Palestinian Authority chairman were neither hurt nor exiled.
“What is an accurate reflection of my opinion is that Mr. Arafat has let the Palestinian people down. He hasn’t led. And as a result, the Palestinians suffer,” the US leader emphasized.
Bush welcomed as “positive” Arafat’s arrest of Hamas members. “Now it’s up to Chairman Arafat to perform, to keep them in jail.” Earlier, the White House said that Israel must be “very mindful of its responsibilities” to protect the Middle East peace process. While stressing that “Israel is a sovereign nation,” spokesman Ari Fleischer said “Israel has to be very mindful of its responsibilities to protect peace in the region and work toward a vision of peace.”
Prodded to say whether this amounted to a call for restraint by Israel, the spokesman declined to elaborate. Asked whether his comment amounted to a “red light” for Israel, Fleischer retorted: “Israel does not ask the United States for lights of any shade or color, and the United States does not give Israel any lights.”
An Israeli government statement gave no details of what military operations had been approved. But it said the Security Cabinet had empowered Sharon and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to decide what action to take.
