Word: gaza
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Still, the rash of violence poses an enormous test for the peace process. Israel has insisted it will not expand Palestinian self-rule beyond the enclaves in the Gaza Strip and Jericho unless Arafat works harder to ensure Israeli safety by containing Muslim extremists. So far, the P.L.O. chairman has been unwilling to do that. Israelis hope the latest outrages will jolt him into action, but that would be a major departure for Arafat. "The question now," says a U.S. diplomat in Jerusalem, "is whether this man, who has survived by making compromises with his opponents, is capable of wisely...
...Hamas no reason to fear us." Still, the failure of Israel's efforts to save Waxman underscores how difficult that chore is. Despite its superior firepower, an extensive intelligence network and a willingness to use draconian measures, the Israeli army was never able to subdue Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Now it expects Arafat's far less sophisticated force to achieve that goal...
Nevertheless, though the drama ended fatally for Waxman, the story's other hostage -- the delicate negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians -- may yet survive. In the end, Rabin's test for Arafat did not materialize: Waxman had not been imprisoned within the Gaza Strip. In the aftermath of the saga, progress toward a full peace may be slowed as Israel insists that Arafat crack down generally on Palestinian extremists. The process was shaken, but, despite the tragedy, it was no longer imperiled. At least until the next test comes...
...killed during a rescue attempt by Israeli commandos, which came an hour before the expiration of the militants' original deadline for sparing Waxman's life. Under pressure from both Israel and the U.S., P.L.O. chairman Yasser Arafat's security forces had arrested some 300 alleged Hamas activists in the Gaza Strip in a vain attempt to find the kidnappers, who, it turned out, were in the West Bank instead. Hamas had demanded the release of the group's spiritual leader and 200 other jailed prisoners...
...Hamas, the militant Islamic group that blew up a Tel Aviv bus last week, threatened to mar President Clinton's five-country Middle East tour with more violence. Since the bombing, Israeli authorities have rounded up dozens of second- and third-tier Hamas operatives from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including, Rabin disclosed today, two alleged accomplices of the suicide bomber, Salah Abdel Rahim Hassan Assawi. Rabin also pledged to amass a 10,000-member security force for Clinton's arrival in Jerusalem Thursday. In Washington, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said the Administration is likely to propose legislation...