Mideast: all attack, no endgame

The no-way-out nature of this phase of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict grows clearer by the day: The Palestinians will not stop fighting until they can taste the end of 35 years of occupation, and Israel will not countenance any political deals until the Palestinians cease their terrorist assaults.

Until one side caves in or a mediator finds a way to establish a truce, analysts say, Palestinian suicide bombings will continue, and the Israelis will broaden their military operations in Palestinian areas.

The pronouncements of both sides are steeped in a chilling acceptance of this war of attrition. "Palestinians are not afraid of death anymore and, therefore, they are not afraid of the Israeli army anymore," says Nabil Shaath, a Palestinian cabinet minister and peace negotiator.

"So far it looks pretty good: Ramallah has not turned out to be another Stalingrad," says Moshe Arens, a former Israeli defense minister, contrasting Israel's unhindered invasion of a West Bank city with a bitterly fought siege of World War II. "It's the beginning of what I wanted to see happen."

Yesterday's suicide bombings in the northern Israeli city of Haifa and the West Bank settlement of Efrat, the fourth and fifth such attacks against Israeli civilians in five days, are further indications of Palestinian resolve. Mr. Arens says he expects Israeli forces to broaden their presence in Palestinian areas.

The current downward lurch in the conflict began with a particularly atrocious suicide bombing last Wednesday, which killed 22 people at their Passover seder meal. After near round-the-clock deliberations, the Israeli Cabinet Friday morning authorized "a wide-ranging operational action plan against Palestinian terror," declaring Yasser Arafat an "enemy." "At this stage," a Cabinet communique said, "he will be isolated."

Thus began an Israeli assault on the West Bank hub city of Ramallah and the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority president. Israeli forces quickly occupied most of the city-block-sized compound, overwhelming resistance from Arafat's security forces and confining him and his aides to a windowless room. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered assurances to US Secretary of State Colin Powell that Arafat would not be killed.

The Israeli strategy of "applying pressure" on Arafat seems to have nearly hit its zenith, but it is difficult to discern what such pressure is intended to accomplish.

The original idea was that attacks on the symbols of Arafat's authority would impel him to exert that authority in the service of containing Palestinian militancy and safeguarding Israel.

Now the Palestinian leader is barely able to keep his cellphone charged, much less marshal the means or the political support necessary to take steps to protect Israelis. In the meantime, Israeli forces have taken up the task of policing the Palestinians, running house-to-house searches for militants and rounding up adult males en masse to screen them for possible arrest.

"Ramallah is going pretty well in terms of the operational objectives being met," says Jacob Dallal, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), noting that 145 suspected militants have been arrested, including two experienced operatives from the military wing of Arafat's Fatah movement. The IDF has also released a list of small arms seized at Arafat's compound.

Unlike earlier incursions into Palestinian towns and refugee camps – which lasted anywhere from a couple of days to a week or so – the current operations are open-ended, says Mr. Dallal.

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