Israel ponders Arafat's cease-fire order

Nails and screws exploded from the bomb

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet Sunday morning with his advisers and is expected to discuss Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's order to his security forces to implement an immediate cease-fire.

Arafat's order came after he condemned a suicide bomb attack that killed 19 people in front of a crowded Tel Aviv discotheque Friday.

One person died Saturday evening, bringing the death toll to 19. At least 115 others were wounded in the blast.

Israeli government officials said a meeting of the full Israeli Cabinet would be held Sunday, along with several smaller consultation sessions, as the leadership tries to determine how to respond to the attack. Similar meetings were held Saturday, after which Israel's Cabinet secretary said in a statement that Israel would take all necessary measures to defend its citizens.

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There was no indication as to whether the statement meant, as some ministers have intimated, that Israel's self-declared policy of restraint is over. Palestinian leaders have derided the policy as nothing more than a ploy.

Palestinian officials said implementation of a cease-fire would take time. "It is a gradual process that will take some days," Ahmed Tibi, an Arafat adviser, told CNN. "I hope the government of Israel will give this ... declaration of Chairman Arafat a chance to carry on and succeed."

Tibi said the Palestinian leader began giving orders to his people on the ground immediately after he issued the cease-fire order. "This is a serious implementation of this statement," Tibi said.

Sharon government waits for action

Arafat said the Palestinian Authority would do everything it could to stop the violence.

"I repeat our condemnation of this tragic operation and to all operations that result in the killing of civilians, Israelis or Palestinians," Arafat said.

"We will now exert our utmost efforts to stop the bloodshed of our people and the Israeli people and to do all that is needed to achieve an immediate and unconditional, real and effective cease-fire."

The Palestinian leader's statement of condemnation was made before international television cameras. Israeli officials said his message was not broadcast on Palestinian news outlets.

But Tibi said it was broadcast several times on Palestinian television and radio.

Sharon has said there has to be an end to the violence before he will start any peace talks with Arafat.

"We want to see -- not if he talks, but if [he] acts," said Dan Meridor, chairman of Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defense Commission. "If he puts back in jail the Hamas, Islamic Jihad people that he had released and who carried out the bombing last night."

Israeli television reported early Saturday that the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, which Israeli police said inflicted the highest death toll of any single incident since violence in the region resumed eight months ago.

Third party must intervene, Palestinian says

A statement from the Palestinian minister of information and culture, Abed Rabbo, said Israeli demands that Palestinian security forces immediately round up all Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists were unrealistic and dangerous for Palestinians.

"In fact, it seeks an excuse for its wide range aggression against the Palestinian people and Palestinian civilians," Rabbo said.

He said the only way to stop further violence was for another party to step in.

"There is no other way but for a third international party to engage actively and immediately in order to avoid further bloodshed and bring an end to further deterioration in the crisis," Rabbo said.

The Palestinians are asking and urging the United States to become involved in the latest crisis. They also say CIA Director George Tenet is coming to the region.

At the direction of U.S. President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell called leaders in the region as well as other key diplomatic players in an effort to bring about an agreement for a cease-fire, administration officials said.

In an interview with CNN, Palestinian Cabinet member Saeb Erakat called for action.

"There are massive things to be done in terms of ending of the crisis, lifting the siege, cessation of settlement activities," he said. "In terms of the resumption of negotiations, what needs to be done now is exerting maximum efforts in order to ensure that the timeline is in place to start the implementation immediately."

"I do think that Arafat gave some very, very positive statements today, which I do hope that the government of Israel will take note of," said Terje Larson, U.N. envoy to the Middle East.

"I think he's stretching out the hand," Larson said. "However, it is now important not only to watch words, but to look at deeds. Words have to be followed by deeds on both sides. Both sides have now committed themselves to the Mitchell Report. Arafat did so once again today and both sides have called for a cease-fire."

But Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was not impressed by Arafat's statement.

"I must say that we are tired and sick of his declarations. We are still waiting for some of his actions, some of his steps that he should take in order to stop the violence, the terror and the incitement that he instigated eight months ago."

Gissin said that despite Friday's attack, Israel remains "committed to the cease-fire ... committed to peace."

But, he said, "you can rest assured that those who perpetrated the act, and the Palestinian Authority, which is fully responsible for this act, will pay the full price. We'll decide on the time and place, and the method, to bring about an end to this cycle of hostilities."

The army ordered a closure Friday of the West Bank and Gaza, and requested that all Palestinian workers with permits to work inside Israel go home.