April 17, empty handed, amid new reports about Israeli incursions and fighting across the region. "A cease-fire is not a relevant term," said Powell in Jerusalem, where he also condemned both the ongoing Israeli military operations and Palestinian terrorism.
Powell made the announcement after his second meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, which lasted two hours but ended without apparent results. After the talks a clearly outraged Yasser appealed to the United States and the world Wednesday to end what he called the Israeli siege of his headquarters. "It is acceptable that I cannot go outside from this door?" he asked reporters.
Palestinian leaders have also expressed concern about an alleged massacre in the refugee camp of Jenin, where they say 3,000 people are missing following days of fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinians there. "Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is beyond rehabilitation," said Palestinian Chief Negotiator Seab Erekat in an earlier interview.
DOZENS KILLED
However Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres strongly denied those charges, saying that "perhaps dozens" of civilians died "unfortunately" during house to house fighting. "We lost 23 soldiers there. It was a very difficult fight as our soldiers encountered living mines, people with explosives around their bodies," Peres added.
Aid workers have described Jenin as "an earthquake zone" and urged Israel to at least return the bodies of those killed to killed to families. At the same time, Christians in Jesus birthplace Bethlehem faced another difficult day, after earlier reports of gunfights around The Church of the Nativity. Israeli Prime Minister said that he hopes to end military operations within two weeks, but there was no sign that the violence would stop any time soon.
One Palestinian was killed during Israeli operations into Bal’a, east of Tulkarm, and in Silat al-Harthiyah, northwest of the troubled refugee camp Jenin, the Voice of America reported quoting wire services. Palestinian witnesses said Israeli tanks fired at a Palestinian security force building in Bal’a and began house-to-house searches. The Israeli army said the operations were aimed at seizing terrorists. Israeli forces were also said to have sealed of the Palestinian area of Issawiyeh in East Jerusalem overnight.
DISAPPOINTED POWELL
A clearly disappointed Powell said he intends to return to the area "to advance things," though he gave no date. Pentagon officials are believed to have criticized Powell for making the trip to Israel, which they described as a mission impossible. However Powell made clear that the US must stay involved in Israel and that senior officials, including CIA Director George Tenet, will be in the region to try to end the Israeli-Palestinian violence.
Before leaving for Washington Powell reviewed his peace efforts with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Jordan’s visiting Foreign Minister, Marwan Muasher. Both countries have expressed concern about the violence in Israel and have blamed Israeli Prime Minister Sharon for escalating tensions. King Abdullah of Jordan said this week that Arafat has now become "the most popular figure in the Arab street."
