Israel announced on Friday night that it is suspending all contact with the new Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and his government, claiming that members of the Palestinian security agencies were involved in an attack in Gaza that killed six Israelis.
Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said relations will be suspended until Abbas takes action against the militant groups behind Thursday night’s attack.
The assault on the busy Karni crossing point from Gaza into southern Israel was the deadliest attack since Abbas was elected Yasser Arafat’s successor on Sunday, and amounted to open defiance of his repeated calls for an end to four years of violence.
Three Palestinian gunmen sprayed automatic fire and grenades at the checkpoint after detonating a truckload of explosives, and were shot by security forces.
Israel refrained from military retaliation on Friday but said the suspension of all contacts was inevitable when it became obvious that ”members of the Palestinian security agencies were involved in [the] attack”.
”Everything is cancelled until they take steps against terror, so we can see there is not only talk but also action,” said Assaf Shariv, a spokesperson for Sharon. ”Abbas knows who carried out the attack, so he will be the one to stop them. It’s very easy.”
The suspension of contact is a setback to hopes that the post-Arafat era would herald a revival of the peace process.
Abbas, who declared himself ready for talks soon after his election victory, had already spoken to Sharon by telephone and had been expected to meet him face to face before the end of January. That now appears improbable.
But one Israeli government source insisted that Sharon has not given up on Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen.
”What happened on Thursday night was terrible, but not unexpected,” the source said. ”If it had happened while Arafat was around, there might have been quite a different response. We have a lot of faith in Abu Mazen and he will be judged by what happens in the weeks and months ahead.”
The Palestinians regretted the Israeli move, and said the violence can only be halted by resuming peace talks.
”I told them that we reject that you hold Abu Mazen responsible, because he is not sworn in yet as president,” said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian Cabinet minister.
”We call on the Israelis to resume a meaningful peace process and dialogue, because this is the only way to break the vicious cycle of violence.”
Abbas has said he wants to co-opt rather than confront militant groups. Earlier, Abbas, who is due to be sworn in as president on Saturday, condemned the attack and said it ”did not benefit the peace process”.
A United Nations spokesperson said: ”The secretary general [Kofi Annan] hopes that this terrible incident will not be allowed to undermine the recent positive steps made by both parties.
”He also calls on the new Palestinian leadership to make all possible attempts to bring to justice the organisers and perpetrators of this attack.” — Guardian Unlimited Â