Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Sunday that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has 48 hours to enforce a shaky ceasefire and end a weekend of unrest marking the first anniversary of the latest Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli occupation.
"The agreement we signed with Yasser Arafat stipulates that the ceasefire effectively starts Sunday morning and the Israeli security cabinet has decided to see what will happen in the next 48 hours," Peres said on army radio, cited by AFP.
Peres and Arafat concluded a ceasefire deal on Wednesday, with the violence to be reined in over a 96-hour period starting from Friday, when both sides held a high-level joint security meeting.
But a weekend of unrest that saw 11 Palestinians killed and scores wounded in anti-Israeli demonstrations undermined the first half of that period.
"The accord allows for a week-long process during which we will ease the sanctions (against the Palestinian population) while the Palestinians must exert maximum efforts to enforce a ceasefire," Peres said.
He acknowledged, however, that "Yasser Arafat is not in an easy position, given the anger and hatred to be overcome among Palestinians."
Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said that during the next two days Arafat must "arrest the terrorists" on a list supplied by Israel.
He must also crack down on hardline Palestinian Islamist groups who have vowed to fight on and stop all "incitement" to attack Israeli targets, Gissin told the agency.
According to the latest tally by AFP, Israeli soldiers have killed over 640 Palestinians since the eruption of the latest Palestinian uprising, while in the same period around 169 Israelis have died.
The Israeli security cabinet decided Saturday night that Israel would give Arafat another 48 hours to prove that the PA is upholding the ceasefire cemented by the two sides, reported the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz newspaper.
During the four-hour meeting, the security cabinet decided that an additional security reassessment would take place after the two-day period was over, said the paper.
“If the PA has not begun to take actions against terrorism, the government will resume its policy of initiated actions,” Haaretz said, in an apparent reference to Israeli assassinations of Palestinian leaders and armored attacks on refugee camps.
The two-day period of grace takes into consideration the position of the United States, and the desire to prove that Israel is keeping to the guidelines issued by Peres and Arafat after their meeting, the paper said.
Israel claims to be continuing to carry out its part of the agreements and will begin easing the restrictions on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as the seige of the West Bank city of Jericho.
Meanwhile, right-wing members of the security cabinet blasted Peres for meeting with Arafat, with Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi and Public Security Minister Uzi Landau both saying there had no point in him meeting Arafat in the first place.
Shas Party leader Eli Yishai demanded that the responsibility for explaining Israel's policies be taken out of the hands of the foreign ministry and transferred to the prime minister's office.
Peres is to convene a meeting of the strategic explanation forum later Sunday in order to discuss Israel's stance over the coming days, the paper added.
Landau said Sunday that Peres had caused Israel serious damage by meeting with Arafat last Wednesday.
Landau said that the meeting had "blurred the distinction between the good guys and the bad guys and had seriously impaired the [Israeli army]'s preventive power."
The hawkish minister also said that action needed to be taken against Peres, as even in the past - such as when his opposition to the 1981 bombing of the Iraqi nuclear power plant - he had caused Israel serious damage – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
