Arabs believe attack meant to sink new deal

The Israeli air strike on a heavily populated neighbourhood in Gaza City was meant to torpedo efforts to end the current conflict and resume dialogue, in the view of many Arabs.

The attack took place an hour and a half after the Palestinian Interior Minister, Mr Abdel Razak Yehya, concluded an agreement with Islamic and secular militant movements to end attacks against Israeli civilians.

Earlier in the day, the spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, signalled that such an accord was in the works when he said that Hamas would stop targeting Israeli civilians if Israel would withdraw its troops from Palestinian cities in the West Bank, release prisoners and halt house-demolitions and assassinations.

Sheikh Yassin was encouraged to take this line by a positive encounter between Mr Yehya and Israel's Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, who suggested that Israeli troops would leave Bethlehem and Hebron.

Sheikh Yassin's remarks were widely reported by the Israeli and international media.

Israel's assassination of Salah Shehadeh, the chief of Hamas's military wing, could not but compel the movement and its secular counterparts to repudiate the accord.

Ironically, Shehadeh, seen as the heir apparent of the ailing sheikh, would have been the man to impose discipline on his men as well as hotheads who are not members of the formation.

After the missile attack, Sheikh Yassin warned that Hamas would "not respond with words to Sharon's butchery".

In the view of Mr Hafez al- Barghouti, the editor of al-Hayat al- Jedida, which is the official newspaper of the Palestinian Authority: "The purpose of this operation was to stop the contacts between the Palestinians and some Israeli ministers."

Furthermore, Palestinians now see little point in holding talks with Mr Peres who does not represent the government and has no power to prevent provocative military operations.

Mr Baghouti also said that the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, "wants there to be a Palestinian response, he wants more violence because he has no political solution" to the conflict.