Who Needed Yesterday's Blast in Israel?

A suicidal blast put an end to all peace efforts

Hardly had the ink of the UN, the USA, the EU and Russia’s new peace plan dried before another act of terrorism made it absolutely worthless. Israel’s reaction in response was predictable. The Israeli government introduced a curfew in the major Palestinian cities. The curfew was introduced in its toughest variant. Once again, the Israelis have also blocked Yasser Arafat’s residence in Ramallah.

Israeli tanks entered the territory of Arafat’ compound. Then there was a skirmish with Palestinian security guards, two of which were slightly wounded. Three powerful explosions took place in Ramallah on Friday morning, and thick clouds of smoke were seen above the Palestinian leader’s complex. News agencies say that the Israelis blew up the buildings next to Arafat’s office. Israeli military spokesmen refused to comment.

The major goal of the lates operation does not include nabbing Arafat or expelling him. They want to arrest Palestinian commanders that are allegedly involved in terrorism. Israelis claim that they are hiding in the Mukata compund.

There are pieces of information that say that there are 20 such commanders on the chancellery premises, while thers say that there are 26 of them. A session of the Israeli government on Thursday reportedly decided to simply isolate Arafat. Nevertheless, many participants of the session reportedly insisted on expelling Arafat from Palestinian territory.

The further events can follow two paths. First of all, there might a special operation conducted by the Israeli army. This will provoke new blasts, and Arafat will not be able to stop them, no matter what. There is also another scenario possible: Arafat might deliver the suspects to Israel; however, that's not very likely.

This suicide blast was not just an incident. Security contacts between Palestine and Israel had started, and the mediators were becoming more and more active. An act of terrorism put an end to all those efforts.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov