Dismembering the P.A.

Following the promise of a “crushing offensive" by Israel, the WSWS analyzes the long term goal of Sharon's Likud-Labour coalition:

[S]haron is seeking to create the conditions where he can finish the job he started and destroy what is left of the PA. That is why his government ignores or dismisses repeated condemnations of suicide bombings by Arafat. He wants Arafat’s leadership to be deposed, not because the Fatah leader is secretly masterminding terrorist attacks, but because Sharon wants the more militant factions within the PA and the Islamic opposition groups to provide Israel with a cassus beli for the reoccupation of the West Bank and Gaza.