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Mideast crisis deepens, war fears rise
Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles at the West Bank city of Ramallah and targets near President Yasser Arafat`s headquarters in Gaza on Thursday, prompting a senior Palestinian official to accuse Israel of unleashing all-out war. US President Clinton has called for immediate ceasefire.
Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles at the West Bank city of Ramallah and targets near President Yasser Arafat`s headquarters in Gaza on Thursday, prompting a senior Palestinian official to accuse Israel of unleashing all-out war. US President Clinton has called for immediate ceasefire.
At least two people were hurt in the attack on Arafat`s Ramallah headquarters and the police station where hours earlier hundreds of Palestinian youths had stabbed the two Israelis to death, police and witnesses said.
The Palestinian leader was unhurt in the attacks around his Gaza headquarters, Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan said.
Palestinian radio in Ramallah was knocked off the air by one of the attacks, while ambulances and fire vehicles swarmed around flames rising near a residential area.
Palestinian officials said the strikes amounted to all-out war, and appealed for immediate international intervention to stop two weeks of clashes between Israeli security forces and rock-throwing Palestinians that have killed nearly 100 people.
Bureau Report Palestinian President Yasser Arafat told British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook early today that he condemned the killing of at least two captive Israeli soldiers by a Palestinian mob yesterday, diplomats said. Mr Cook, who has extended a West Asia tour in response to the growing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said it was important for both sides to stop escalating the crisis and start talking. Diplomats said after the meeting that Mr Arafat had told Mr Cook he condemned the killing of at least two Israeli soldiers by the Palestinian mob in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank town of Ramallah.
The diplomats also said Arafat had been ``receptive`` to the idea of attending a summit. The Palestinian leader had been invited to a peace summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Egypt, but diplomats also quoted Mr Arafat as saying there could be no talks if israel continued military action.
``The important thing before a summit is to stop the aggression against our people,`` Mr Arafat was quoted as saying.
Palestinian officials said the strikes amounted to all-out war, and appealed for immediate international intervention to stop two weeks of clashes between Israeli security forces and rock-throwing Palestinians that have killed nearly 100 people.
Bureau Report Palestinian President Yasser Arafat told British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook early today that he condemned the killing of at least two captive Israeli soldiers by a Palestinian mob yesterday, diplomats said. Mr Cook, who has extended a West Asia tour in response to the growing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said it was important for both sides to stop escalating the crisis and start talking. Diplomats said after the meeting that Mr Arafat had told Mr Cook he condemned the killing of at least two Israeli soldiers by the Palestinian mob in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank town of Ramallah.
The diplomats also said Arafat had been ``receptive`` to the idea of attending a summit. The Palestinian leader had been invited to a peace summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Egypt, but diplomats also quoted Mr Arafat as saying there could be no talks if israel continued military action.
``The important thing before a summit is to stop the aggression against our people,`` Mr Arafat was quoted as saying.