SAFED, Israel - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said last Thursday Israel‘s cabinet had decided to press on with a military offensive in the West Bank and to keep Yasser Arafat „isolated“ in his Ramallah headquarters. Sharon‘s comments to reporters during a visit to the army‘s Northern Command headquarters responded to speculation that Israel was about to exile the Palestinian president.

Sharon appeared to slam the door to a meeting between Arafat and a European Union peace delegation later in the day. Israeli tanks and troops took up positions in Arafat‘s compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah last Friday after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 26 people, and they have since occupied most of the other main West Bank towns and cities. Sharon said Israel would press ahead with the military campaign in Palestinian-ruled areas to uproot „terror“. He said Israel would embark on peace talks with the Palestinians only „when there will be a full cessation of terror, hostilities and incitement“. Palestinains say the military offensive is intended to reoccupy Palestinian-ruled areas and to oust or kill Arafat.

Sharon accused Syria and Iran of backing cross-border attacks by Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas and threatened to take „all actions“ required to prevent them. Hizbollah has stepped up attacks in recent days on Israeli military positions along the border. Israel has responded with air strikes and artillery fire.

Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and again in 1982, when it occupied Beirut and expelled Palestinian guerrillas led by Yasser Arafat. In 1996, it launched a sweeping military offensive after a wave of Hizbollah rocket attacks on northern Israeli cities and towns. Reuters