1. ISRAEL BOMBS ALLEGED PALESTINIAN SAFE HOUSE TIED TO KILLING OF AMERICANS; FIVE INJURED… Israeli helicopters fired missiles into what was described as a safe house for Palestinian terrorists in two separate strikes on Monday. The target is located in a refugee camp near Gaza City. Three members of the Popular Resistance Committees were injured in the first strike, two more in the second, which took place later in the day. A spokesman for the organization said the targeted house was used by one of its leaders. The Popular Resistance Committees was formed by expatriates from other terrorist organizations and is believed to have been behind the attack in which three American security guards were killed last October.
2. JORDANIANS REACT TO INFILTRATION INTO ISRAEL; KILL TWO WOULD-BE INFILTRATORS… A gun battle broke out on Monday between Jordanian forces and four armed men they were trying to prevent from crossing into Israel. Two of the would-be infiltrators were killed, one injured and one captured. The incident occurred while the Jordanian border authorities were investigating an early Monday morning incident in which terrorists infiltrated into Israel from Jordan and shot at two army vehicles, wounding one soldier.
3. CHIRAC TO SHARON: ‘YOU’RE NOT WELCOME IN FRANCE’… Diplomatic relations between Israel and France deteriorated further when French President Jacques Chirac sent a message to Ariel Sharon telling him that the Israeli prime minister is not welcome in France. Chirac was livid over Sharon’s call to French Jews to emigrate to Israel. Sharon has not announced any plans to visit France and the French government would not go so far as to term Sharon ‘persona non grata.’ On Sunday, Sharon spoke before a group of American Jews and said regarding French Jews, “We see the spread of the wildest anti-Semitism there. I think…they have to move immediately,” triggering outrage in France. Both the prime minister and Foreign Ministry have recently praised efforts by the Chirac government to combat anti-Semitism.
4. TENSION MOUNTS ON LEBANON-ISRAEL BORDER… Tension is running high and Israeli soldiers are on high alert along the border with Lebanon following the assassination in Beirut of a senior operative of the Hizbullah terrorist organization. Hizbullah chief Sheikh Sayyid Hasan Na’srallah accused Israel of responsibility for the bomb that killed Ghalib ‘Awali, who was in his car outside of his home at the time. Israel has denied Na’srallah’s accusation and a French news agency reported that a previously unknown terrorist group took responsibility for the killing.
5. U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO VOTE ON ‘FENCE’ RESOLUTION MONDAY… The United Nations General Assembly will vote on a draft resolution on Monday that will instruct the body to “consider further actions to bring an end to the illegal situation” if Israel does not comply with a ruling of the International Court of Justice at The Hague that ordered it to remove its controversial security barrier and pay compensation to Palestinians affected by it. The Arab bloc was studying changes and additions offered by the European Union overnight. They are reported to include a reference to a nation’s right to self-defense as stated in the U.N. charter. Debate in the General Assembly has been bitter, marked by heated exchanges between Palestinian observer Na’sir Al-Qidwa and Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman.