Sharon talks tough after air raids
Sharon talks tough after air raids
JERUSALEM (Reuters): Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to use as much Israeli military might as needed against the Palestinians, amid scathing domestic and international criticism on Sunday of his dispatch of warplanes to retaliate for a suicide bombing.
"We will do everything necessary and use everything we have to protect Israeli citizens," Sharon was quoted as saying in an interview with Israel's largest daily, Yedioth Ahronoth.
Six people, including a suicide bomber from the militant Hamas movement, were killed in the explosion at a shopping mall in the seaside Israeli city of Netanya on Friday.
Hours later, Israeli F-16 warplanes struck Palestinian security compounds in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, killing at least 12 Palestinian policemen and raising Israeli retaliation to a new level in the current uprising for independence.
The Palestinian Authority called the Israeli attacks a "serious escalation" and urged the international community and the United States to intervene immediately.
Echoing commentary in other Israeli dailies, Yedioth Ahronoth called the decision to unleash the U.S.-built F-16s in the West Bank for the first time since the 1967 Middle East war "pointless" and "stupid".
Arab foreign ministers, meeting in Egypt on Saturday, recommended the suspension of political contacts with the Israeli government until it halted its military assaults against the Palestinians.
They did not call for an outright break in diplomatic ties. Addressing his security cabinet, Sharon said Israel faced "a lengthy campaign requiring determination and perseverance" -- and pointedly offered "special thanks" to the air force.
The fighting brought new calls for an end to the violence and heightening of a security alert in Israel, where police on the watch for more suicide bombers set up roadblocks that caused traffic jams at the start of the Israeli work week on Sunday.
"I...call on behalf of the United States for all leaders in the region to...do everything in their power immediately to bring into being an unconditional cessation of violence," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Washington.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the suicide attack appalling, but branded Israel's response "disproportionate".
In fighting on Sunday, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire near the West Bank city of Ramallah and a roadside bomb exploded near an Israeli tank along the Egyptian border in the Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported.
Last Saturday, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian policeman during a gun battle in the West Bank and shot dead another Palestinian in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said both were armed and posed a threat to its forces.
A 20-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire while throwing stones at troops in the West Bank city of Nablus. At least 441 Palestinians, 13 Israeli Arabs and 87 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian uprising began.