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September 7, 2001/Elul 19, 5761, Vol. 53, No.48
Despite bombings, hopes rise for talks
NAOMI SEGAL
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Hopes for a possible cease-fire meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat have risen, despite five bomb attacks in Jerusalem this week.
Just a day after prospects for a meeting appeared dim, both Peres and Arafat spoke optimistically of the possibility of meeting to try to arrange a lasting cease-fire to nearly a year of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Peres told reporters that he prefers to meet with Arafat in the region, and away from the prying eyes of the media.
Previous meetings between the pair have resulted in cease-fire agreements that failed to take hold.
The news of possible cease-fire talks contrasted sharply with the reality on the ground this week, as Palestinians detonated five bombs across Jerusalem in the space of barely 24 hours.
In the most violent attack, a Palestinian suicide bomber disguised as a fervently Orthodox Jew blew himself up outside a hospital entrance in downtown Jerusalem Sept. 4, wounding 21 people, one of them critically.
The bomber detonated his explosives when two border police approached him.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, which came a day after four bombs exploded in Jerusalem - in the French Hill, Gilo and Ma'alot Dafna neighborhoods - slightly wounding three people.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine reportedly claimed responsibility for the Sept. 3 blasts, saying they were in retaliation for Israel's assassination last week of the group's leader.
The suicide bombing Sept. 4 took place shortly before 8 a.m., not far from the site of a suicide bombing last month at the Sbarro pizzeria that killed 15.
Police said that several minutes before the explosion Sept. 4, a number of civilians had reported a suspicious figure in the area. Moments before the blast, two police officers saw a man who appeared to be Orthodox walk briskly past them, looking anxious.
The officers approached the man, who "didn't notice us at first. Then he stopped, glanced back toward us, smiled and extended his hand back and reached into a rear pocket of the bag. It was then clear what was going to happen," said Guy Mugrabi, one of the officers.
Mugrabi was slightly wounded in the blast; his fellow officer sustained critical wounds to the head.
Reaction to the bombing followed a familiar pattern. Israel said it holds Arafat responsible for the attack, while Arafat said he regrets attacks against civilians in general, "whether they are Palestinians or Israelis," without condemning the specific incident.
Reports this week said Peres and Arafat may meet in Italy, where both are due to attend an economic conference. However, Arafat said in Amman this week that no decision has been taken on a meeting with Peres.
Israeli commentators questioned the utility of asking Arafat yet again for a cease-fire, after he failed to honor his commitments on numerous previous occasions.
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