Israel announced early today it will seize new Palestinian land in response to every future attack and hold it as long as violence continues. Israeli forces invaded the West Bank cities of Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya and Hebron overnight, with helicopter gunships firing from above. The action comes after the latest suicide bombing, which killed 20 people in Jerusalem.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat says Ariel Sharon is trying to foil any international effort aimed at reviving the peace process before such an effort begins. Erekat said Sharon wants to “end the peace process, destroy the Palestinian Authority, replace it with the [Israeli] civil administration and to press ahead with the occupation.”
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s inner Cabinet decided against sending Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat into exile, after intelligence experts strongly warned against the move. But Israeli radio is reporting today officials are preparing to expel senior figures in the Palestinian Authority.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post is reporting President Bush plans in the coming days to propose the establishment of a Palestinian state with provisional boundaries. Negotiations over permanent borders would be completed within three years. An international conference would adopt the plan in September. But all of this is provided the Palestinian security forces are revamped, and violence against Israeli civilians reduced.