Israel yesterday dismissed a new U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an end to its siege of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters, calling the text unbalanced and pledging the siege will continue until the surrender of the wanted men among the 250 people inside Arafat's compound.

Washington abstained from voting on yesterday's resolution, but U.S. President George W. Bush criticized Israel over the five-day siege, which was sparked by two suicide bombings last week.  Bush said the Israeli operation is "not helpful" in advancing Palestinian political and security reforms, but he did not directly call on Israel to withdraw (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo! News, Sept. 25).

Israeli officials expressed disappointment that the United States did not veto yesterday's resolution.  On Monday, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres had called certain aspects of the resolution hard to accept -- specifically, the demand that Israel end the siege and withdraw from Palestinian cities (Jerusalem Post, Sept. 24).  Peres today denied reports of an argument between Israel and the Bush administration over the blockade (Ha'aretz, Sept. 25).

Israeli troops yesterday launched a major incursion targeting suspected militants in the Gaza Strip, killing nine people, including six civilians, according to Palestinian officials.  More than 80 armored vehicles, along with helicopters, stormed Gaza City early in the day, sparking a five-hour battle.  Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the operation "a war crime," but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, "We have not achieved our mission in the Gaza Strip.  The day will come when we will have to hit Hamas and the Islamic Jihad" (AFP/Yahoo! News).

Click here for a Washington Times interview with senior Arafat adviser Nabil Shaath.

Meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York yesterday, civil society groups pledged to urge their countries to take action to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and implement U.N. resolutions on the Middle East.

The U.N. International Conference of Civil Society in Support of the Palestinian People adopted an action plan that supports Security Council or General Assembly authorization for an "international interposition and protection force" as a first step to end the Israeli occupation.  The groups pledged to educate the public about the "realities of life under occupation and the daily violations of Palestinian human rights" and to advocate boycotts, divestment and the suspension of aid and trade as measures against Israel.

The groups called on countries to hold Israel accountable for "war crimes" in the occupied territories.  "We will work to ensure that the 'transfer' -- or ethnic cleansing -- of Palestinians that has happened twice over the past century never happens again and that past wrongs are righted in accordance with international law," the action plan reads (U.N. release, Sept. 24).

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East yesterday said it faces a $17 million budget deficit for this year.  Meeting with 27 donor countries in Amman, Jordan, UNRWA warned it finds itself forced to cut back on food and other emergency aid for Palestinian refugees.

"The underfunding of UNRWA is a very bad message to be giving to the refugees at this incredibly difficult time," UNRWA head Peter Hansen said.  "As the agency responsible for humanitarian assistance to almost half the population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the challenges we now face are as great as any in our long and turbulent history.  There is no more efficient vehicle in the region than UNRWA for delivering humanitarian assistance, but the international community will only be able to use this vehicle if it keeps it maintained" (UNRWA release, Sept. 24).