A hot-headed government

The security cabinet's decision on Sunday night to step up attacks on the Palestinian Authority and to conduct a "continuous campaign" was implemented yesterday in a series of violent attacks in the West Bank and Gaza. An IDF force returned to the Jenin refugee camp, while other forces took action in Ramallah, Rafah and the Nablus area. According to the prime minister's statements to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the IDF is planning to operate in other refugee camps "to destroy the will and ability of the terrorist organizations."

The "continuous campaign" already resulted in tragic results, with the IDF's hitting innocent people, including four children in Ramallah, and the head of the Red Crescent in Jenin. Palestinian and Israeli sources provided contradictory versions of the two incidents yesterday, but that does not change the lethal results. All those who are shocked by the deaths of innocent Israelis cannot be apathetic to the deaths of innocent Palestinians. As we count our dead, they count theirs.

Israel's course of action, chosen in the wake of the terrible attacks on Saturday night and Sunday morning, is similar to that which was approved following the attack on the Ein Ariq checkpoint. Those operations were halted after two days, at the request of the Palestinians, who proposed convening the joint security committee and attempting a cease-fire during Id al Itha. But the cease-fire did not last and hostilities resumed. Now it appears that neither side has any intention of halting the spiraling violence.