1 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Tuesday that Yasser Arafat must carry out a pledge to reign in anti-Israel violence and called on the Palestinian leader to outlaw two groups responsible for a wave of bombing attacks.
2 Addressing Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Rabin revealed Israel has in recent months arrested 2,400 Palestinians on suspicion of militant activities, bringing the total of Palestinians held by Israel to nearly 6,000.
3 He called on Arafat to ban the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups in autonomous Gaza Strip and Jericho. The fundamentalist groups, which oppose the Israel-PLO peace process, have claimed bombing attacks that killed 56 Israelis since October.
4 During peace talks in Washington on Sunday, Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath pledged the PLO in writing to 'pre-empting terror, punishing those responsible and denying those who plan and carry out terror or violence any safe haven.'
5 Rabin stressed he expected Arafat to disarm and prosecute the militants.
6 'We have made clear that the main obstacle in implementing what was and will be achieved in the negotiations is the terrorism,' Rabin said. 'Unless the Palestinian Authority takes significant steps, there will be great difficulty in advancing at a quicker pace' towards expanding Palestinian autonomy, he said.
7 The violence has stalled efforts to expand the nine-month-old Gaza-Jericho autonomy throughout the West Bank.
8 The last attack, in which 21 Israeli were killed on Jan. 22, prompted Israel to seal off the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
9 That measure satisfies a growing desire among Israelis for a physical separation from the Palestinians and is seen by some as a prelude to eventual Palestinian independence from Israel.
10 But in the short term, it prevents tens of thousands of Palestinians from reaching jobs in Israel, worsening an already desperate economic situation in the Palestinian areas.
11 Rabin said he would discuss the closure with Arafat at a planned meeting Thursday.
12 'The closure is one of the means to increase security,' Rabin said. 'We will use it whenever we need it and relax it whenever we realize that measures are taken' by the Palestinians to reduce the chances of another attack.
13 Rabin said that Arafat in recent meetings has stressed his difficulties asserting control in Gaza.
14 In one recent case, Rabin said, PLO police arrested an Islamic militant planning to kill Arafat, but a judge released the man for fear of retribution by the fundamentalists. In a separate criminal case, another judge released the suspect when someone fired a gunshot between his legs, Rabin quoted Arafat as saying.
15 Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Tuesday that despite the difficulties, the peace process will continue.
16 'The choice before us is either a process of terror without a peace process, or a peace process despite the continuing terror,' Peres told Army Radio.

He called on Arafat to ban the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups in autonomous Gaza Strip and Jericho . The fundamentalist groups , which oppose the Israel - PLO peace process , have claimed bombing attacks that killed 56 Israelis since October .
Hamas and Islamic Jihad
What do these groups stand for? Why are they attacking Israelis?