Arafat hints at more Arab military strikes in Israel

Press, 17 March 1977, Page 8

Arafat hints at more Arab military strikes in Israel

International

NZPA-Reuter Cairo Hard-liners in the Palestinian Parliament-in-exile, pressing for the destruction of Israel, appear to be gaining ground over moderates in Cairo.

And the Palestine Liberation Organisation leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, hinted at a possible rise in Palestinian rr’itary operations inside Israel. Asked whether military operations would be stepped up after the meeting of the Palestine National Council, now in its fourth day, Mr Arafat told reporters: “I can’t say directly after the conference. There are some secrets. We prefer to let actions speak rather than words.”

Observers in Cairo doubt that either Syria or Jordan would allow the resumption of commando ooerations at this stage from their territ ry and in Lebanon Palestinians are engaged in battles with Lebanese rightist forces. They said, commando operations would be more likely to come from within Israeli-occupied territories.

The swing to the more radical elements in the P.N.C., holding its first meeting since 1974, came after intense lobbying aimed at narrowing the wide gap between moderates and hardliners, insisting that Israel must be destroyed by force. Mi Arafat, hitherto allied with the relatively moderate elements in the P.N.C., has favoured P.L.O. representation at a reconvened Geneva peace conference, viewed by hard-liners as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause. After two conference sessions on Tuesday, M‘ Arafat said the question of attendance at Geneva was hypothetical since the P.L.O. had received no invitation. He said it would discuss the issue once such an invitation, opposed by Israel and the United States, had been received.

Most moderate delegates in Cairo believe that the apparent shift towards a hard-line attitude was partly caused by President Jimmy Carter’s recent statement that a Middle East settlement would probably involve minor adjustments to Israel’s pre-1967 borders and an Israeli defence capability beyond the permanent and recognised borders. Mr Arafat said that Mr Carter had completely neglected the core of the Middle East crisis, the Palestinian people. The. pro-Soviet Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is expected to call for the unification of all Palestinian commando ,roups into one army and for the escalation of ‘‘armed struggle” inside “occupied territories.”