Top Israeli security officials told US envoy Anthony Zinni Tuesday the Palestinian Authority had started a real crackdown on Islamic extremists, raising hopes that the two sides could be closing in on a truce deal.
"We see the start of a real fight against terrorism by the Palestinians," Israeli security officials told AFP, speaking after the retired Marine Corps general hosted a joint security meeting with the Palestinians.
Israel had previously dismissed as token Yasser Arafat's effort to jail Islamic militants responsible for a spate of deadly suicide bombings.
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli security sources said Zinni had asked Israel at the meeting in Jerusalem to refrain from attacking Palestinian targets for 48 hours to give the Palestinians a further chance to crack down on extremist groups.
The Israelis said they would put the proposal to right-wing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The meeting came a day after Israeli helicopters killed two Palestinian children in a failed attempt to assassinate a militant from the hardline radical group Islamic Jihad.
It also followed an attack by Israeli helicopters that destroyed a base of Yasser Arafat's elite Force 17 guards in the Gaza Strip.
The meeting was attended on the Palestinian side by the West Bank security chief Colonel Jibril Rajub, and on the Israeli side by the head of military planning, Giora Iland, as well as the head of the Shin Beth internal security service, Avi Dichter.
Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, speaking from Ramallah in the West Bank shortly after the meeting ended, gave a lukewarm response to the security talks.
Palestinian security officials had even considered boycotting them in protest at continued Isareli attacks.
"I cannot say that the security meeting accomplished a lot or that it accomplished little," he said, speaking before the Israeli announcement.
"We told the Israelis that what they are doing is complicating the efforts being made for the sake of the peace process," he said.
"We respect all our commitments. We will respect the state of emergency and many steps will follow," he added, without giving more details.
(China Daily December 12, 2001)
