<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1255"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Israel calls off its operation in Gaza</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer decided Thursday night to cancel - or "defer," in official parlance - a planned Israel Defense Forces operation in the Gaza Strip. The IDF action was originally planned as a response to a lethal terror strike Tuesday night in Rishon Letzion. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz had advocated a major military action following the Rishon Letzion attack. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>While Sharon and Ben-Eliezer decided at their Thursday night meeting to call off the Gaza operation, aides to both men later stressed that each had reached the decision separately. Ben-Eliezer blamed leaks by cabinet colleagues for the deferral; Sharon also said leaks had contributed to the suspension of the operation, but he pointed an accusing finger at IDF officers. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sources close to the prime minister explained that two main factors had led to the cancellation of the Gaza operation. Sharon, they said, feared that the IDF's plan might lead to many casualties and serious international complications. Furthermore, they said, the prime minister did not want to upset what he regards as a favorable diplomatic climate, following his trip to Washington and the Bush administration's recognition of the need for reforms in the power structure of the Palestinian Authority. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ben-Eliezer, security sources relayed, had opposed the Gaza operation in light of intelligence reports that the Palestinians had regrouped in anticipation of an IDF incursion and that terror suspects had gone into hiding. The defense minister did not want to give the go-ahead to an operation that was liable to result in many IDF casualties and the apprehension of few terrorists. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In Washington, U.S. officials welcomed the resolution last week of the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The U.S. officials are now preparing to pressure Israel and the PA into renewing security contacts. Bush administration officials reason that now that the crises at the church and at Arafat's Ramallah compound have been resolved, there are no lingering obstacles to impede the resumption of security talks. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Bush administration has, meanwhile, decided to postpone CIA director George Tenet's expected visit to the region. Israeli and American sources said that Tenet would arrive no earlier than next week. The CIA director is to help formulate a plan to unify the PA security forces, as the first step in a reform plan for the PA. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In Gaza, residents displayed relief as reports circulated about the cancellation of the IDF incursion, but some PA spokesmen warned that Israel might be disseminating disinformation so as to restore the element of surprise to an imminent attack. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Samir Mashehrawi, deputy commander of the PA preventive security apparatus in Gaza, warned that despite Israel's massive military advantage, Palestinian forces would resist any IDF incursion. Nevertheless, a senior PA police officer in Khan Yunis, Tawfik Jabar, said that Yasser Arafat and Palestinian police commander Razi Jibali had ordered forces not to get dragged into skirmishes with the IDF. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Palestinian sources reported that a 14-year-old boy, Iz a-Din al-Halu, had been killed Friday by IDF gunfire in the Gaza Strip. Two other youngsters were wounded in the incident. According to an investigator from the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights, the three youths were bird-hunting in an eastern section of the Gaza Strip, near the Green Line, when they came under fire from the IDF.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>By Ha'aretz Staff <BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>