Egypt Recalls Ambassador From Israel

Nov. 21, 2000 -- Egypt recalled its ambassador from Israel today, citing what it called Israeli aggression against Palestinians in nearly two months of deadly clashes.

Egypt’s action was its strongest protest to date againstIsrael’s handling of a Palestinian revolt in which at least 246 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed.

“President [Hosni] Mubarak issued instructions for therecall of Ambassador [Mohammed] Bassiouni to Cairo immediately because of Israel’s escalating aggression against Palestinians and excessive use of force against the Palestinian people,” the official Middle East News Agency said.

The move followed overnight Israeli missile strikes onPalestinian targets in the Gaza Strip that were launched inreprisal for a bomb blast that killed two Israeli adults and wounded several settler school children on Monday.

MENA quoted Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa as saying he would consult Bassiouni on the “deteriorating situation” in Palestinian-ruled areas. It said Bassiouni would remain in Cairo for some time and gave no date for his return to Tel Aviv.

In recent weeks, Mubarak took the initiative, against much Arab pressure, to host the Sharm-el-Sheikh summit together with President Clinton and other world leaders. Although the summit did end in an agreement to cease fire, it has done little to curb the violence in the region.

Palestinians Hail Decision

Monday night’s retaliatory bombing of targets in the Gaza Strip by Israel appears to have been the final straw, forcing Egypt’s government to heed the growing tide of anger which has also led to massive demonstrations on the streets of Cairo.

In Gaza City, a senior Palestinian official hailed Egypt’s decision.

“We appreciate Egypt’s move. This is a critical message tothe Arab nations, to the United States and to the international community that Israel has to pay the price of its aggression,” said Palestinian Cabinet minister Hassan Asfour.

“We hope this will be followed by real steps againstIsrael’s aggressor government and we are waiting for more steps against Israel and its ally the United States,” said Asfour, who has been a negotiator in now-frozen peace talks with Israel.

Israel: ‘Very Serious’ Move

Responding to Egypt’s decision to recall its ambassador, Israel said the move was “very serious” move and that it would limit Cairo’s ability to play a role in Middle Eastpeacemaking.

It said it had no immediate plans to recall its ambassadorfrom Egypt in response.

“It is a very serious issue,” Foreign Minister ShlomoBen-Ami told Israel Radio. “I think that recalling the ambassador will hurt Egypt’s ability to continue to fill the very important role it has in the process here.”

Asked about Israel’s ambassador in Cairo, he said: “We arenot thinking of calling the ambassador forconsultations.”

Cutting Diplomatic Ties

Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty withIsrael in 1979, last recalled its ambassador in protest at the Jewish state’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. On that occasion, the envoy, Saad Murtada, stayed in Cairo for eight months.

Jordan, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, announced in early October that it was delaying sending itsnewly appointed ambassador, Abdulilah al-Kurdi, to Tel Aviv in protest at Israeli actions against Palestinians.

Egypt and Jordan resisted pressure to cut their ties with Israel as radicals demanded at an Arab summit in Cairo last month and at this month’s Islamic summit in Qatar.

Resolutions at those meetings left it to individual statesto decide whether to downgrade their relations with Israel.

The Egyptian move now puts pressure on Jordan’s King Abdullah to follow. Jordan is now the only Arab country with which Israel maintains fully functional diplomatic relations.

Mohamed al-Sayed Said, deputy director of Cairo’s Al AhramCenter for Political and Strategic Studies, welcomed the recall of the ambassador, which he said was the right response to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s handling of the crisis.

“The Israelis have gone mad,” he said.”Obviouslythey are determined to destroy the Palestinian people … Public opinion is really furious about the brutality of the Barak government’s policy toward the Palestinians.”

Cycle of Violence Continues

Palestinian gunmen today shot an Israeli civilian in the head as he was traveling in a convoy in the Gaza Strip while Barak was visiting a military base down the road, the army said.

“The shots came from a Palestinian police position,” an army spokeswoman said.

The army said the shooting occurred at an intersection inthe Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and that the wounded man was a civilian.

On Monday night, enraged Palestinians offered themselves as human shields through the night, surrounding government buildings in cities in the West Bank as Israel battered targets in Gaza.

But that did nothing to ease the rage and pain in Israel after Monday’s school bus bombing attack. Miriam Amital, 35, a mother of four, and Gabu Biton, 34, a father of six, were buried Monday. In the Cohen household, three children — Tehila, 9, Yisrael, 7 and Orit, 12 — lost part of their legs after shrapnel from a bomb that exploded about 70 yards from their school bus pierced the sides of the bus. Rachel Ashraf, 34, also injured in the blast, has been assured that the baby she is expecting soon has not been harmed.

The Israeli response was a two-hour battering from land and sea of nine targets in Gaza. They issued no warning, although the Palestinians had evacuated the buildings they suspected would be targeted.

Gaza City is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with 350,000 people crammed into a very small space. The Palestinians say three people were killed and 125, many of them children, were wounded as shrapnel, broken glass and stray shots damaged residential buildings adjacent to the targets.

The Israeli army has confirmed it killed two more Palestinians during clashes following the reprisal raids. Palestinian hospitals in Gaza reported 11 others wounded.

The troops opened fire on stone throwers at Karni, on the border between Israel and the Gaza strip, and on groups of protesters near Rafah, on the Egyptian border near Gaza City.

The Israeli army has now split the Gaza Strip in two by blocking the main road south of Gaza City.

Focus on United Nations

With Egypt recalling its ambassador, the focus now shifts to the United Nations, where Israel is blocking a Palestinian attempt to have a force of 2,000 U.N. observers stationed on their territory.

Discussions are focusing on expanding an American-led international commission of inquiry into the current violence, to which Israel has reluctantly agreed, with monitors. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with Israeli and Palestinian representatives Monday night.

Meanwhile, Barak, who faces yet another government crisis later this week, is reviving the idea of a government of national unity incorporating the right-wing Likud party and its hawkish leader Ariel Sharon, who Palestinians hold responsible for starting the current round of violence with his controversial visit to a Jerusalem site considered sacred to both Muslims and Jews.

ABCNEWS’ Sue Masterman in Vienna, Bassem Barhoum in Ramallah and Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.