The New York Times · New York, New York · 4 August 1997

CP-1997-026

Israel Steps Up Its Security In Fear of New Bombings

By DOUGLAS JEHL

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JERUSALEM, Aug. 3 — As relations between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders continued to fray, a reinforced army of security forces fanned out across Israel today in the face of new signs that Islamic militants may be planning more attacks after a suicide bombing last week.

The huge deployment, which included thousands of army troops, police officers and paramilitary forces, nearly doubled the number of heavily armed police on the streets of Jerusalem alone and added to a sense of unease that left buses mostly empty and shopping centers nearly deserted.

A threat issued in the name of Hamas, the militant group blamed by the authorities for the suicide attack that killed 13 Israelis in a crowded Jerusalem market on Wednesday, warned of further action if Palestinian prisoners were not freed by 9 tonight. The deadline expired without incident.

Israeli officials have said they do not know whether the warning, posted in in the West Bank town of Ramallah the same day as the bombing, was credible. But the chief of the Israeli police, Assaf Hefetz, said the authorities had learned of “a series of details” pointing to the possibility of renewed violence.

And in a sign of the potential for retaliatory strikes, the Israeli authorities said a Palestinian man in his 50’s or 60’s was found shot dead near the Jewish settlement of Carmel in the West Bank this evening. They said Palestinian witnesses had reported that he had been shot from a passing car.

Israel’s Channel 2 television quoted one witness as saying that the car bore the yellow license plates issued to Israelis. The dark mood today was underscored by a stern declaration from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told his Cabinet during a daylong meeting that Israel would no longer honor its agreements with Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, unless Mr.

Arafat did more to crack down on Islamic militants in territory under Palestinian control. Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Arafat have adopted an increasingly venomous tone in recent days, accusing each other of bad faith. Today the Prime Minister suggested that the consequences of a breakdown in relations between the two sides could be drastic.

“If Arafat honors his commitments in the agreement, chiefly to fight terrorism, the agreement will survive,” Mr. Netanyahu said of the interim peace accords that Israel first concluded with the Palestinians four years ago. “If he doesn’t, we will not keep up our part of the bargain unequivocally.”

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