Israel would not allow Arafat to return

JERUSALEM -- Israel will not allow Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to return to the West Bank if he leaves the area, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman said Monday.

The Palestinians have approached Israeli authorities about the possibility of Arafat attending international conferences, Raanan Gissin said.

"He's free to leave, but he's not free to come back," Gissin said the Palestinians were told.

"We have considered Arafat irrelevant for some time, and many in the world are realizing that, too," Gissin said. "If he were not here, perhaps the Palestinians could choose a new way and a new leadership."

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat called Sharon's stand "despicable" and accused him of sabotaging peace efforts.

Israel charges that Arafat is responsible for nearly two years of Mideast violence by encouraging militants to attack Israel and failing to crack down on extremist groups. Palestinians counter that Israel has neutralized Arafat's security forces in the West Bank, and charge that the Israeli occupation and army operations in Palestinian areas are behind the violence.

With few exceptions, Arafat has been confined to his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah all year by Israeli forces, with tanks surrounding or entering his compound and controlling the area.

Also Monday, Israeli forces shot and killed an armed Palestinian who threw grenades at soldiers in the Gaza Strip, according to military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Soldiers withdrew from a main intersection near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, restoring Palestinian traffic through Gaza, the military said. The military cut the road curing violence last week.

In other developments, Israel's defense minister ordered the army to quickly conclude its investigation into the deaths of Palestinian civilians in recent army raids, Israeli forces in Nablus cut one of the two main roads, and Palestinian educators complained that Israeli restrictions are ruining the new school year.

In three attacks from Thursday to Sunday, 12 Palestinians were killed, at least eight of them civilians, including several children. After apologizing on two separate occasions for the deaths, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer ordered an inquiry to be completed by Friday, an unusually tight deadline.

Some analysts interpreted the quick inquest as a sign of differences between Ben-Eliezer and the new Israeli army chief, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon. In a newspaper interview, Yaalon had called Palestinians a "cancer" and said that they must be totally defeated, while Ben-Eliezer has been working for easing of tensions and a cease-fire.

After taking control of seven of the eight main West Bank cities and towns in June in response for two suicide bombings in Jerusalem, Israel handed Bethlehem over to Palestinian security last month, part of a test that was to include Gaza. However, there has been no similar movement in Gaza, and each side blames the other.

Israeli media late Monday quoted Palestinian Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh calling on his people to stop violent attacks against Israelis and move to nonviolent resistance instead. On Friday, in an interview published by an Israeli newspaper, Yehiyeh, who is in charge of security services, called for an end to suicide bomb attacks.

In Nablus, the largest West Bank city, Israeli soldiers kept a curfew in effect as they blocked one of the city's two main roads, cutting a deep trench with a bulldozer. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

In Rai, a village north of Nablus, residents say soldiers forced a Palestinian woman to board a jeep and demand that her brother surrender. When she called to him over a loudspeaker that the soldiers were going to blow up her house, he emerged and turned himself in. Then the Israelis removed the explosives and left the village with the Palestinian, they said. The Israeli military had no comment.

The Palestinian Education Ministry said Monday that the widespread curfews are disrupting the new school year, which started Saturday. Thousands of students are unable to reach their schools because of the curfews, confining people to their homes, and Israeli roadblocks and travel restrictions, ministry officials said.

The Israelis say the restrictions are necessary to stop bombers and other attackers from entering Israel.