Israel seals off Occupied Territories in wake of suicide bombing

19 May 2003
Israel reacted swiftly to the 18 May suicide bombing in Jerusalem by sealing its borders with the Occupied Territories and attempting to increase the marginalisation of Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Yasser Arafat. The government announced that foreign politicians and diplomats who visit Arafat would be barred from meeting Israeli officials. Some ministers are reported to have urged Sharon to expel Arafat.

The Jerusalem suicide bomber, disguised as an orthodox Jew, boarded a bus before detonating his explosives, killing seven Israelis. The bombing was a further setback to the incipient resumption of the peace process, signalled just hours beforehand by a meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with his newly-appointed Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). The meeting was the highest level contact between the two sides since the outbreak of the latest Palestinian intifada in 2000. However, the two men failed to bridge their differences over the implementation of the peace roadmap drawn up by the quartet of the US, the EU, the UN and Russia. Abbas wants both sides to begin implementing its terms immediately, while Sharon insists that the PA must first crack down on terrorism. Following the bombing, Sharon postponed a visit to Washington to discuss Israeli concerns about the roadmap with President Bush.

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