JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon aimed unusually harsh words at the United States Thursday after a string of Palestinian Resistance attacks, urging Washington not to ``appease'' Arab states at Israel's expense.Sharon stopped just short of cancelling a U.S.-backed cease-fire, but said that Israeli security forces would do whatever is necessary to protect Israeli citizens. ``From now on we will count only on ourselves,'' he told a news conference.
Sharon's remarks indicated a shift in policy that could undercut Washington's efforts to bring Arab and Muslim states into an international coalition against Islamic militants suspected of carrying out the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.
The prime minister said Israel would fight what he calls terrorism without letup, dropping Israel's earlier promise to suspend military strikes against Palestinians as part of a truce deal sought by Washington.
The tough words followed an attack by a Palestinian Resistance man , who killed three Israelis at a bus station in northern Israel before he was gunned down. (Read photo caption below)
The attack in the city of Afula, just across from the West Bank town of Jenin, came just minutes after senior Israeli and Palestinian officials completed an apparently fruitless meeting about implementing the latest truce, declared Sept. 26 to try to end a year of fighting. Sharon told a news conference that the cease-fire has not stopped violence ``even for a minute.''
Since the cease-fire was declared, 21 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, and five Israelis have been killed in two attacks by Palestinian Resistance men.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Israeli police stand next to the body of a suspected Palestinian militant, disguised as an Israeli soldier, who opened fire at the central bus station in the northern Israeli town of Afula on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001. According to witnesses, the gunman entered the bus station and began firing an assault rifle at bystanders, killing 3 and wounding 14. (AP Photo/Yigal Levy)