Israel cuts contacts with Arafat

Israel has cut off contact with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Officials say he is "directly responsible" for the latest attacks that killed 10 Israelis and wounded more than 30 others.

The move throws into question a US effort to arrange a truce to end more than 14 months of violence in the Middle East.

A statement released after Israel's Security Cabinet met in Tel Aviv said Arafat is "directly responsible for the series of attacks and therefore is no longer relevant to Israel, and Israel will no longer have any connection with him".

After the meeting, Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit said there would be no more contact with Arafat or the Palestinian Authority he leads. This includes meetings of security commanders, he said.

"We have been talking with the Palestinians at all levels for two years," Sheetrit said. "Now it is time for Israel to defend itself."

US envoy Anthony Zinni has spent the last two weeks trying to implement a truce agreed on last May but still only on paper.

He has set up three meetings of Israeli and Palestinian security commanders, but the sessions degenerated into shouting matches, with each side blaming the other for continuing violence.

After two horrific suicide bombing attacks earlier this month in Jerusalem and Haifa, the Israeli Cabinet labelled the Palestinian Authority an "entity that supports terrorism," but allowed contacts to resume a few days later.

Israel has charged that Arafat is responsible for attacks by militants because he has not taken adequate steps to control them.