The White House yesterday denounced Israel's missile strike in a
densely populated area in the Gaza Strip as "heavy-handed" and described
it as "a deliberate attack against a building in which civilians were
known to be located."
Rejecting Israel's contention that it did not intend to kill innocents
with a strike that was directed against a leader of the Hamas militant
group, spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "These were apartment buildings that
were targeted." In addition to Salah Shehada, the intended target, the
missile fired from an Israeli F-16 warplane killed 14 other people, most
of them under the age of 11, and injured about 150.
Although President Bush continues "to be a lead defender of Israel
around the world and will speak out about Israel's right to self-defense,"
Fleischer said, "this is an instance in which the United States and Israel
do not see eye to eye."
The Monday night attack was widely condemned in Europe and the Arab
world. Many, particularly in Arab capitals, said it demonstrated that the
government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was trying to undercut
recent progress in the Middle East peace process.
The attack appeared initially to have stunned U.S. officials involved
in peace efforts. They said they had no warning of Israel's plans despite
talks here Monday between high-level representatives of the two
governments. By yesterday, shock had turned to depression and uncertainty
over where the process would go.
"There is considerable agreement that this represents something really
problematic, something unique," one administration official said.
U.S. reaction to the attack, which occurred around 7 p.m. Washington
time, was delayed until there was a clear picture of what had happened,
the official said. After a flurry of telephone calls to the region,
"within an hour, we knew what we were dealing with. Then discussions began
on how to respond."
Talks Monday night among Secretary of State Colin L. Powell; his
deputy, Richard L. Armitage; and William Burns, the assistant secretary
for the region, were quickly joined by national security adviser
Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Stephen Hadley. While acknowledging deep
and longstanding differences between the State Department and the White
House over Middle East policy, the official said, "this particular time,
there was agreement across the board."
Under the rhetorical code that has long surrounded statements on the
Middle East, the United States normally "condemns" Palestinian terrorist
attacks and uses the somewhat softer verb, "deplore," to criticize Israeli
actions.
Officials considered, then rejected, condemning the Israelis or
describing their actions as "counterproductive" before settling on
"heavy-handed," as something they believed "captured the deploring," as
one official put it.
It was decided that Daniel C. Kurtzer, the U.S. ambassador to Israel,
would deliver the message to Sharon. U.S. officials here described that
discussion yesterday as unpleasant, and said Sharon said little in private
that differed from his description of the attack as "one of our major
successes."
White House public comment was left to Fleischer, and Bush made no
statement yesterday on the attack. "The president views this as a
heavy-handed action that is not consistent with dedication to peace in the
Middle East," Fleischer said.
Asked why Israel's action in Gaza was different from U.S. attacks
against al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan that resulted in the loss of
innocent civilian lives -- a comparison Israel has made -- Fleischer
replied: "It isn't accurate to compare the two. . . . There are going to
be losses of innocents in times of war, and I think that's recognized
around the world.
"What's important is, in pursuit of the military objectives, as the
United States does in Afghanistan, to always exercise every restraint to
minimize those losses of life," Fleischer said. "But in this case, what
happened in Gaza was a knowing attack against a building in which
innocents were found."
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana called the attack an
"extra-judicial killing operation" that "comes at a time when both
Israelis and Palestinians were working very seriously to curb violence and
restore cooperative security arrangements."
Solana represents the EU in the "quartet" group on the Middle East that
also includes Powell, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
Annan issued a statement late Monday deploring the attack, saying,
"Israel has the legal and moral responsibility to take all measures to
avoid the loss of innocent life; it clearly failed to do so."
There was no direct contact yesterday between Powell and the other
quartet members, and no one seemed to have a clear idea how to proceed
beyond waiting for the immediate fallout -- including widely expected
Palestinian retaliation -- and its unpredictable impact on the wider peace
process.
After months in which the process has been frozen, and despite
Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as recently as
last week, significant recent progress had been reported.
Plans to restructure the Palestinian Authority's security and financial
infrastructure and prepare for elections in January were near completion.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met with senior Palestinian
officials last weekend for the first time in months, amid signs that
Israeli troops would begin to withdraw from occupied Palestinian
cities.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the Arab countries most active in the
peace process, all condemned the Israeli action. Egyptian Foreign Minister
Ahmed Maher called it a "war crime," and his Saudi counterpart, Saud
Faisal, said it was "a repulsive act that will be registered against
[Sharon] in history."
War and Peace in the
Mideast
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