An Israeli Merkava tank is seen in a staging area on the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Nov. 16, 2012. Israel has called up thousands of soldiers and moved hundreds of military vehicles to the border to escalate the operation of "Pillar of Defense". [Xinhua Photo]

The latest Israeli attacks have temporarily shifted world attention from Syria ― but more so from the possible findings of the forensic tests on Arafat's exhumed remains. If the tests are indeed carried out and they reveal that Arafat was indeed assassinated, questions would be asked that Israel would definitely not wish to answer. Israelis would very much like to derail world attention, for as long as possible, from the French Arafat forensic tests – and the likely possibility of the confirmation of his suspected assassination.

Another full-scale Israel-Palestine war is under way. This time Arafat is dead – and so is the Hamas military chief. Hamas leaders have been forced into bunkers while Israel continued to "bomb Gaza into the Middle Ages."

Since Arafat's death, much has changed. The Palestinian nation has been divided into two distinct "states-within-a-state" (West Bank and the Gaza Strip), their respective leaderships maintaining a wide political divide. But the latest Israeli aggression has brought the Palestinians closer in their latest collective grief.

The "targeted" and "surgical" assassination of al Jabari inside Gaza by the Israeli military has been likened in Jerusalem to the assassination of Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan by US Navy Seals. Both missions were approved at the highest political levels. But if the impending forensic tests show what the Palestinians suspect, the assassination of the world-renowned PLO Leader could lead to serious consequences, including calls for prosecution of those responsible by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Arafat forensic test will be an important litmus test, the result of which might have serious international implications.

When Israel last invaded Gaza four years ago, 1,300 Palestinians and 16 Israelis died. The disproportionate casualty toll will most likely be the same this time around, with casualties mounting by day and night.

Netanyahu undoubtedly plans to parade significant Palestinian scalps, including al Jabari's, during the election campaign. His main problem is possibly having Arafat's naked scalp also placed on his totem pole by the French forensic finding. This, obviously, is something that he's evidently prepared to go to war to prevent.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.h5a3.com/opinion/earlbousquet.htm

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