Stung by international criticism, and claiming it had captured two members of a "terror cell" that had been planning a car-bomb attack in Jerusalem, Israel yesterday began slightly easing its blockade of the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Israeli government is standing by its assertion that Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority is directly orchestrating attacks on Israeli targets, and that members of Mr Arafat's Force 17 bodyguard unit are at the forefront of the violence.
For that reason, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, and the Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, yesterday rebuffed a plea from a visiting European Union delegation to release urgently needed taxation revenue, levied last year from Palestinians working inside Israel and owed to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.
Ramallah remained encircled by Israeli forces last night, but limited movement in and out of the city was being permitted at two entry points, under heavy security. Some 200,000 Palestinians have been affected by the blockade, and the lines of traffic trying to reach the roadblocks stretched for miles.
Military officials said they had arrested two more members of a cell they alleged had killed eight Israelis in previous attacks, but they were still checking every vehicle leaving the city for fear of bombs. Brig Benny Gantz, the army's West Bank commander, last night reiterated the claim that the cell included members of Mr Arafat's Force 17.
This week's Ramallah blockade - an intensified version of the heavy restrictions on movement in and out of all West Bank cities that has been imposed by the army for much of the past five months - has caused worldwide criticism, extending even to Israel's staunch allies in the US. Even before this week's intensified measures, the International Committee of the Red Cross had castigated the army for countering the Intifada through "collective punishment, which severely violates international humanitarian law". Ms Shulamit Aloni, a former left-wing Israeli Knesset member, has gone further, accusing the army of "war crimes". An Arab Knesset member on Monday accused Israel of turning Ramallah into the equivalent of a concentration camp, but yesterday retracted the Nazi comparisons.
The EU delegation, led by the Swedish Foreign Minister, Ms Anna Lindh, pleaded with Mr Sharon to ease economic conditions for the Palestinians: unemployment in Palestinian areas is conservatively estimated at 40 per cent; tens of thousands of Palestinians are being kept away from their jobs in Israel, and many more cannot work because of the intermittent closures of West Bank cities.
The EU visitors also asked that Israel release taxation revenue to the Palestinian Authority, but were told by Mr Sharon that it was "immoral to demand that Israel pay the salaries of Palestinian forces that are involved in terrorist actions".
Mr Bassam Eid, a leading Palestinian human rights activist, last night acknowledged that the Palestinian Authority was not taking steps to quell anti-Israeli attacks, but said Israel's blockade and policies were "preventing the PA from acting".