OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 25 September — Israel yesterday shrugged off mounting pressure and a new UN resolution calling for an end to its siege of Yasser Arafat’s West Bank headquarters, after staging a massive raid into Gaza which left nine Palestinians dead. Calling the latest resolution unbalanced, it said it would continue to besiege Arafat’s ruined offices in the West Bank town of Ramallah until around 20 wanted people among the 250 men pinned down inside gave themselves up.
Israel’s defiance of the UN Security Council was all the more pronounced since its main backer Washington not only abstained from the 14-0 vote, instead of vetoing the resolution, but later made a blunt criticism of the siege. US President George W. Bush said the five-day-old siege, sparked by two bombings last week, was “not helpful” for Palestinian political and security reforms, but stopped short of calling on Israel to withdraw.
In response, Arafat’s adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina told reporters, “We welcome the statement of Mr. Bush and we consider it in keeping with Resolution 1435.” The UN resolution, hailed by the Palestinians, pointed the finger at both sides in demanding “the complete cessation of all acts of violence, including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction.”
An Israeli official said the US reaction was to be expected, as Washington needed to obtain the largest support possible to deal with Iraq. “The United Nations can do what it wants, but Israel will continue the operation until its aims are achieved,” the official said. “Either Arafat leaves his headquarters or the terrorists holed up there hand themselves over,” he said.
The Security Council said it was “gravely concerned at the reoccupation” of Arafat’s headquarters” and demanded “its immediate end.” Deputy US ambassador to the UN James Cunningham said he abstained because the resolution failed to explicitly condemn Palestinian bombings, but did not say why he refrained from vetoing it.
The Palestinians were quick to welcome the UN resolution but said Israel must be forced to comply, having ignored previous demands to quit occupied Palestinian lands.
The row over the siege blew up as Israeli troops launched one of their biggest invasions yet in the hunt for suspected militants in the Gaza Strip, killing nine people, six of them civilians, according to Palestinian officials. More than 80 armored vehicles, backed by helicopters, stormed into Gaza City early Tuesday, sparking gun battles which lasted five hours.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the operation “a war crime”, and told AFP it heralded Israel’s reoccupation of the Gaza Strip. Around 30,000 people turned out for the funeral of the nine people killed, shouting for revenge against Israel and firing assault rifles in the air.
