On Eve of Sharon's U.S. Visit, 3 Die in Attack on Settlement On the eve of Mr. Sharon's trip to Washington, the government continued its diplomatic and public relations offensive against Yasir Arafat, charging that the Palestinian leader had failed to stop terrorist attacks.

Mr. Arafat responded in part by pointing again to two newly demolished wings of his headquarters. "This is part of a fierce war against peace," he said, urging the Bush administration to move quickly toward an international peace conference for the Middle East.

But even as the military actions continued, Mr. Ben-Eliezer was casting doubt on the effectiveness of the current strategy. He described his interviews on Sunday with two suicide bombing suspects — a 20-year-old woman who Mr. Ben-Eliezer said had backed out at the last minute from a bombing that killed two Israelis on May 22, and a 26-year-old man who he said had prepared the attack.

Mr. Ben-Eliezer said he had concluded that only good intelligence could prevent such actions. The only long-term solution, he said, would come through peace talks.

"The only thing I can do now is the closures — putting more isolation on the cities," he said. "But people cannot work. They cannot feed their families. The closures create frustration and hatred, and this hatred and frustration might mean the birth of another five to 10 suicide bombers."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/08/international/middleeast/08MIDE.html