U.S. President George W. Bush dispatched special Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni back to the region Thursday in hopes of halting spiralling violence.
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush made the decision after his national security team advised that the action could help break a rising cycle of Middle East violence. Bush was announcing the move in the Rose Garden later Thursday.
He said "there are no assurances" the move would lead to a resumption of peace talks, but "that's not going to prevent our country from trying," Bush told reporters.
"I'm deeply concerned about the tragic loss of life and the escalating violence," he added.
Bush called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to make a "maximum effort to end terrorism against Israel." He also urged the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and others "to do everything they can" to end the violence.
Sources in Washington said Bush was prompted by “positive developments” in the region.
Bush’s announcement came just hours after White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said no envoy would be sent unless there was an "opening where a return by General Zinni that would do some good."
Secretary of State Colin Powell said earlier Thursday that peacemaking would not be productive if the violence was not halted.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher stated Zinni would be sent to the Middle East "as soon as appropriate," which indicated there was no immediate decision to call on the retired Marine general.
Before Bush’s decision was declared Nabil Abu Rdeineh, Yasser Arafat’s advisor, called for US Envoy Anthony Zinni's return to the region. In statements to AFP, Abu Rdeineh said Zinni should be sent quickly to the region “to implement the Tenet recommendations and Mitchell report in order to escape the current crisis and stop the serious repercussions, which will affect everybody.”
Zinni last visited the region two months ago.
Israeli Attack
Meanwhile, a total of 18 Palestinians were killed and scores injured Thursday after huge Israeli forces moved into the West Bank city of Tulkarem and its environs overnight Wednesday, and Israeli helicopters and warplanes hit PA targets in the Gaza Strip and West Bank throughout the day.
In line with a recent Israeli security cabinet decision to intensify attacks, troops occupied the city and the two nearby refugee camps of Tulkarem and Nur A-Shams in a pre-dawn incursion.
Electricity was cut off from the entire city as heavy fighting was reported around the refugee camps. Palestinians reported at least 20 people injured in the fighting.
Palestinians were confined to their homes as Israeli troops carried out house-to-house searches for Palestinian activits.
A total of 13 Palestinians were killed during the incursions in the Tulkarem area. Munhad Abu Hilal, a member of the Fatah military wing, Hosni Naif, and Tarek Abu Jamos were among the killed in Tulkarem.
Five armed Palestinians were killed in the fighting, doctors said, and Palestinian sources said that two ambulance workers, on separate incidents, shot dead by Israeli gunfire on Thursday night. One was identified as Kamel Salem, and the second was identified as Ibrahim Assad, a Red Crescent ambulance driver.
The two were on their way to treat wounded individuals in Tulkarem. In the same incidents, an addtional nurse and docter were wounded, as were two other Palestinian rescue workers.
Four more Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire in Tulkarem Thursday night.
A local Islamic Jihad activist was killed by Israeli troops close to the West Bank city of Jenin, in what Palestinians said was an assassination. They said Israeli soldiers killed Mohammed Anani, 27, at his house in the village of Siris and arrested another man there.
Four Palestinians were killed during gunbattles in the Gaza Strip, including one person who was killed close to the settlement of Netzarim.
Meanwhile, a United Nations spokeswoman said an Israeli F-16 which bombed a Palestinian police compound in Gaza City narrowly missed more than 3,000 refugee children in UN-run schools.
"This morning in Gaza City, an Israeli F-16 dropped a large bomb on a Palestinian police headquarters compound which exploded within 200 meters (yards) of 3,100 refugee children between the ages of six and 15," spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.
The children were attending three schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). "The sound of the explosion, and the blast wave that followed, caused widespread panic and terror, but fortunately none of the children were injured," Okabe said.
"The schools have now been closed and the children sent home for day," she added.
Okabe quoted UNRWA commissioner general Peter Hansen as saying "the bombing of a crowded city center at 9:00 a.m. on a weekday morning led to severe trauma among the children at the UN-run schools."
Hansen added: "It is horrifying to think what would have happened if the bomb had gone astray, as indeed one did on February 20, when it landed on the roof of one of the schools but, thankfully, did not explode."
According to AFP, Okabe said the UN had called on the Israeli army to cease bombing targets near UNRWA installations. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
