JERUSALEM, Jan. 16 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that the new Palestinian political leadership was "not lifting a finger" to stop attacks against Israelis. He ordered the Israeli military to intensify operations against Palestinian militants and to take "any action" necessary to halt terrorism.
Sharon's remarks followed a spate of attacks and counterattacks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that left at least eight Israelis and 24 Palestinians dead in the last nine days.
Sharon, speaking before his weekly cabinet meeting, indicated that he held the new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, accountable for the carnage, including an attack at the Karni border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip on Thursday in which six Israelis were killed. Three Palestinian gunmen were killed in a subsequent firefight.
Sharon suspended all ties with the Palestinian Authority on Friday, saying that Abbas, who was elected Jan. 9 and sworn in Saturday, was not moving fast enough to stop the violence, a charge he repeated Sunday.
"Despite the change in Palestinian leadership, we note that those at the top have not begun any action whatsoever to halt terrorism," Sharon said, according to a transcript released by his office. "This situation cannot continue."
Abbas has said he would try to negotiate with Palestinian militant groups to persuade them to agree to a formal cease-fire. Analysts say that attempting to disarm the groups by force could lead to bloody clashes with official Palestinian security organizations and possibly civil war.
Abbas plans to continue talks with leaders of the groups on Wednesday in Gaza, according to Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians' chief negotiator with Israel. "He wants a deal with all the factions for a cease-fire against all Israelis anywhere," Erekat said.
Also Sunday, the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which Abbas chairs, issued a statement demanding a halt to "all military acts that harm our national interests and provide excuses to Israel, which wishes to obstruct Palestinian stability." Several of the main Palestinian militant groups, including Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas, do not belong to the PLO.
Many Israelis express doubt that Abbas's approach will work and say they believe it will take too much time to find out. Their fears were underscored by the attack at the Karni crossing, which many analysts said was a provocative challenge to Abbas's authority and his oft-proclaimed stance against such violence.
All passages into and out of Gaza have been closed by the Israeli military since the attack, which was staged jointly by three militant organizations -- Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Abbas's political movement, Fatah.
Sharon indicated Sunday that he was out of patience and that Abbas was out of time.
The Israeli military and security forces "have been instructed to step up operational activity against terrorism, and they will continue to do so, without restrictions -- I emphasize, without restrictions -- as long as the Palestinians are not lifting a finger," Sharon said.
