ARABS-ISRAEL - Dec. 13 - Israel Cuts Ties With Arafat.

Israel decides to sever ties with Arafat, with the Israeli cabinet saying: "Chairman Arafat has made himself irrelevant as far as Israel is concerned, and therefore no contacts will be maintained with him". (The decision comes after at least 14 people were killed on Dec. 12 during a raid on an Israeli bus near the settlement of Emmanuel, 12 miles north of Jerusalem, and a double suicide bombing in Gaza. The raid, in which guns, bombs and grenades were used, was claimed by Hamas and Al Aqsa Martyrs' brigade, which is linked to Arafat's Fatah organisation. The PA denounced the attack, but late at night on Dec. 12 Israeli forces were building up on the outskirts of Ramallah. Four Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Dec. 12 when Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles and machine guns on alleged mortar squads). Army spokesman Lt. Col. Olivier Rafowicz says: "The message is as it was in past days. We see the leader of this Palestinian Authority as fully responsible for this escalation of violence, and for the fact that terrorists have not been arrested and terrorism is increasing. But we have no intention at all of hitting Arafat. We don't even look at him as relevant". Israeli tanks rumbled into Ramallah and blew up the 100-metre-high radio transmission tower of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp. Rafowicz said: "This radio station is broadcasting incitement and propaganda that we can compare to Goebbels. Something had to stop this mountain of lies and terroristic material broadcast against the Jewish people". The Chairman of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp. Radwan Abu Ayyash said: "It's another crime against human rights, against the broadcasting profession and against the Palestinian people". Israeli soldiers occupied the three-room apartment belonging to PA chief lieutenant Marwan Barghouti. Israeli war planes and helicopters launched missile and bomb attacks on PA security and police outposts, as well as Arafat's Fatah faction in Gaza City and Jenin. In Gaza, 25 people were wounded. US officials said they were re-evaluating the mission of their US envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni, who arrived in Israel on Nov. 26, and was unable to prod Arafat to initiate a broad crackdown against Hamas and Islamic Jihad.