World

U.N. Condemns Israeli Violence

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 28, 2000 / 6:48 AM EDT / CBS

The possibility of Mideast peace looked more remote than ever with Israel's prime minister delivering an ultimatum to the Palestinians and the United Nations' Security Council condemning the "excessive use of force" that has left over 80 Palestinians dead.

The Palestinians demanded the bitterly fought-over resolution, with the council calling late Saturday for an immediate resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and backed "a speedy and objective inquiry" into the fighting.

The council also said it deplores the "provocation" at Jerusalem's holiest shrine on Sept. 28 and the violence that followed, a clear reference to the visit to the site by right-wing Israeli politician Ariel Sharon.

The Palestinians say Sharon's visit to the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, sparked the violence. Israel says Sharon had a right to visit the compound — known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as Haram as-Sharif — and blames the Palestinians for the wave of violence.

Israeli comment on the resolution wasn't immediately forthcoming, so it was impossible to say how the resolution would affect Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak ultimatum.

Barak had said the Palestinians must stop a wave of violence within two days or Israel would consider the peace process dead and use "all means" to restore order.

"If we do not see a change in the patterns of violence in the next two days, we will regard this as a cessation by (Palestinian President Yasser) Arafat of the peace process... and we will order the army and security forces to use all means at their disposal to halt the violence," Barak told a news conference.

Reuters
An Israeli policeman cares
for a wounded colleague
near Lions Gate in the Old
City of Jerusalem.

Barak used the forceful language after Israel confirmed the claim by the Islamic militant group Hezbollah that three Israeli soldiers have been captured.

As CBS News Correspondent David Hawkins reports, the 48-hour ultimatum is also aimed at America. It's a warning to President Bill Clinton that time and Israeli patience are running out.

And as CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller reports, President Clinton responded by getting busy. Aides let it be known that Mr. Clinton was up before dawn making phone calls to Barak and Arafat.

Later in the day, he conferred with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, trying to arrange an end to the 10 days of bloodshed that have brought the peace process over which he has been presiding to the brink of collapse.

"By far, the most important thing is to put an end to the violence and to see this as a sober reminder of the imperative of getting on with this peace process," Mr. Clnton said.

Reuters
Palestinians hold a flag
with a Nazi swastika, at an
Israeli army outpost at
Netzarim junction.

At the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. was also making an effort to dial back on the accusatory rhetoric the resolution prior to the vote on it. In light of today's developments, the U.S. argued that a poorly-drafted resolution could make a bad situation even worse.

"I think it just accentuates the extreme seriousness of the situation and the need to work on a resolution that gets it right and is appropriate to the facts on the ground," said Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN.

Barak's tough talk was also an attempt to shore up his seriously eroding power base, for fighting continues between Israeli forces along the Lebanese border and on the West Bank, where Palestinian gunmen and civilians stormed an Israeli enclave, trashing sacred Hebrew texts and setting fire to parts of the compound.