ISRAEL put forward a new plan for the West Bank town of Hebron late on Tuesday, the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, announced in Cairo yesterday.
A visibly angry Mr Arafat told reporters that the plan called for the division of the town in to two parts and gave Israel the right of hot pursuit into the Palestinian section.
It shows Israel's aggressive intentions in Hebron and shows complete and abhorrent racism, he said, adding that he had complained about the plan to Egypt and the European Union.
Mr Arafat was in Cairo along with the Jordanian Prime Minister Mr Abdul Karim al Kabariti yesterday for the latest round of Arab shuttle diplomacy.
The two men had separate talks with President Hosni Mubarak that centred on Hebron the main stumbling point in the beleaguered peace process.
Israel's approach towards Hebron is widely seen as a litmus test of the new right wing governments attitude towards the peace process and Arab leaders have repeatedly warned that failure to live up to agreements could lead to increasing violence the region.
All of us, in Egypt, Jordan and Palestine, agree that an agreement should not depart from the text that was already signed," Mr al Kabariti said yesterday. "Without the redeployment in Hebron I think that we will be having a crisis in hand.
The announcement of the new Israeli plan will only increase the likelihood of such a crisis.
Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab states to have signed peace treaties with Israel hake become increasingly critical of the Israeli leader and Mr Mubarak, a key figure in the peace negotiations, has refused to meet the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, until he makes good on Israel's commitments vis a vis Hebron.
Meanwhile the US backed negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials resumed in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba yesterday.