August 21, 2003	Thursday	Jumadi-us-Sani 22, 1424

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TEL AVIV, Aug 20: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday approved a series of military strikes against Palestinian militants in response to the suicide bombing that killed 20 people the previous day, a senior official said.

The official added that the army operations, which could begin any time and last several days, would go ahead regardless of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas’s order for security services to arrest militants behind the bombing.

Mr Abbas, who also decided to cut off contact with militant leaders on Wednesday, acted after Israel shelved its planned handover of occupied cities to Palestinian control, froze high-level talks and reimposed a clampdown on the West Bank and Gaza.

The Israeli official said the military strikes would target the main militant groups with arrests, raids and “targeted killings”.

He said the strikes would hit Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, groups that declared a three-month ceasefire on June 29 under pressure from the reformist Palestinian prime minister to prop up a US-led roadmap.

“Israel will take action as a retaliation against the terror organizations,” the source said.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing on Tuesday night on a bus filled Jewish families returning from prayers at a shrine.

ABBAS TO MEET ARAFAT: The Palestinian premier headed to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday night to meet Yasser Arafat after an emergency cabinet meeting, information minister Nabil Amr said.

At the meeting ministers decided on certain measures which would be put before the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee and the central committee of Mr Arafat’s mainstream Fatah faction, Nabil Amr said.

“During this meeting, we reached a decision. The prime minister (Abbas) will now go and meet with Yasser Arafat and the PLO executive committee and the Fatah central committee to take the necessary decisions immediately to solve this situation,” he said.

He did not give further details, but said the Palestinian Authority would make “urgent efforts” to enforce the rule of law in the Palestinian territories.

“This suicide attack is giving the whole world a negative picture of the Palestinian struggle and the Palestinian commitment (to the roadmap),” Mr Amr said.

“From our side we will carry out urgent efforts to prove the role of one authority on the ground and to ensure the rule of law (is applicable to) everyone in this land,” he said.

“Any Israeli reaction will disturb our work and will only make the situation worse.” —AFP