The Palestinian Authority has suspended all talks with Israeli officials in response to Israeli military assaults on two West Bank refugee camps. The decision will prevent the two sides from going ahead with the next round of US-mediated security talks aimed at paving the way for a ceasefire after 17 months of bloodshed.
Six Palestinians, including a nine-year-old girl, were killed as the Israeli Army occupied Jenin and Nablus for a second day.
Palestinian officials have accused Israel of mounting the operation to sabotage a new Saudi peace initiative, which has won wide support in the past week. The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, warned that the Middle East could plunge into chaos.
He made the comments to reporters at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. It was his first public comment since Israeli troops and tanks began the thrust into the two refugee camps early yesterday.
The Israeli operation is one of the biggest since the beginning of the Palestinian uprising 17 months ago. The Israeli Army has called the camps "hotbeds of terror" in the 18-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
