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West Bank invasion feared as tanks mass By Alan Philps in Beit Jala (Filed: 19/07/2001)

ISRAELI troops and tanks took up positions around Palestinian towns yesterday, prompting fears that an invasion force was being assembled to drive out Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, and restore Israeli control.

The reinforcements, the largest since the violence began more than nine months ago, prompted a diplomatic alert. Many countries called on Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, to exercise restraint.

Israel said the reinforcements were a deterrent, to remind Mr Arafat that the big guns and heavy armour were all on its side. Shimon Peres, the Foreign Minister, said in London yesterday: "Contrary to reports, we do not intend to re-conquer the territories."

Mr Sharon's spokesman said that talk of invading territories which were handed over to Palestinian rule in 1994 and 1995 was "absolute nonsense".

Despite Israel's denials, the troop movements were another step away from the path of diplomacy aimed at resolving the conflict by force. They follow the failure of a US-brokered truce which the Israeli press called a "pseudo-ceasefire".

Yesterday, a meeting of the security cabinet decided to extend Israel's policy of "interception", meaning pre-emptive killing of militants suspected of planning bomb attacks, and to step up patrols to prevent Palestinians entering Israel.

Mr Sharon made clear to the cabinet that a hammer blow to Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority would harm Israel diplomatically. It was understood that America did not want the G8 summit, beginning in Genoa tomorrow, to turn into a festival of Israel-bashing.

Mr Sharon said his policy was one of "serious attacks on terrorists planning to attack us, while safeguarding Israel's diplomatic interests. This is tough, but it is the right course".

Mr Sharon is under pressure from the Israeli Right which has long demanded an invasion Palestinian areas to disarm Mr Arafat's 40,000 police and send him and his lieutenants back into exile.

According to a plan leaked recently by the Israeli military, the army would invade with all the force at its disposal for a month-long campaign to smash the Palestinian Authority. The operation would cost the lives of thousands of Palestinians and up to 300 Israeli soldiers.

Palestinians believe this scenario is merely psychological warfare. A more likely option is for Israel to recapture a few of the most strategic areas under full Palestinian control, leaving Mr Arafat in control of the rest, if he wants to stay.

First on the list of areas to be re-conquered is likely to be Beit Jala, a mainly Christian suburb of Bethlehem which is the closest Palestinian-ruled territory to Jerusalem. Residents huddled with their backs to the walls yesterday as tanks and troops moved in on the outskirts of the town.

Elias Matar, an industrialist whose home is riddled with Israeli machine-gun bullets, said: "Of course some people are afraid of these new troops. But we have lived like this for more than 30 years. Our only reality is tanks and bullets. There is not much we can do. We have nowhere to run."

The reinforcements were part of an increase in Israeli activity since Monday, when two Israelis were killed in a Palestinian suicide bombing, the first inside Israel since the shaky ceasefire began more than a month ago.

Israel responded with a rocket attack in Bethlehem which killed four Palestinians. Palestinians retaliated by firing a mortar bomb at Gilo, a southern suburb of Jerusalem built on disputed land. It was the first fire between Gilo and Beit Jala for six weeks.

Khadr Abu-Abbara, a Palestinian political activist, said: "The atmosphere is very dark. We have to expect an Israeli incursion to set up a military outpost on our hill." But he believes the Israelis are at present only trying to scare the Palestinians.

Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian commentator, said: "What we are seeing is muscle-flexing for domestic and international consumption. But no one should doubt that this could be preparing the ground for a possible escalation, allowing Israel to deploy military forces which are of no use in a low-intensity conflict."

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2001