Ramallah, Sept 19: His popularity soaring, Yasser Arafat and leaders of his Fatah Movement met to discuss the makeup of a new cabinet, while Israel's Foreign Minister ruled out any dealings with the Palestinian leader and called his latest truce proposal an empty gesture. Israel received a boost yesterday from US President George W. Bush, who gave strong backing to its position that Arafat should be replaced and that a crackdown against militant groups is a prerequisite for any progress toward peace.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces pressed on with their own offensive, killing 34-year-old local Hamas leader Jihad Abu Shwairah in a shootout in the Nusseirat refugee camp. Hundreds of soldiers took part in the early morning raid, an apparent signal to Hamas that Israel would not limit itself to airstrikes in Gaza. Israel has killed 13 Hamas members and six bystanders in air attacks in Gaza since mid-August, when a Hamas suicide bombing killed 23 people on a Jerusalem bus - ending a relative lull of almost two months in the violence. Bureau Report