Tanks close in on Arafat HQ

BBC ^ | 01/18/02 | BBC

[Arkle]

Israeli forces have tightened their encirclement around the Ramallah headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, following the first attack on civilians inside Israel in a month.

Tanks have rumbled forward to positions within 30 metres of Mr Arafat's offices, meeting with a shower of stones thrown by dozens of local Palestinian protesters.

One of the demonstrators, 22-year-old Hani Odeh, was shot by Israeli troops. He died in hospital from bullet wounds to his head and neck, officials said.

Earlier, Israeli jets had reduced a Palestinian security headquarters to rubble in the West Bank town of Tulkarm, killing one policeman and injuring at least 40 people.

The raid came hours after a Palestinian attack in the northern city of Hadera, in which a gunman burst into a banqueting hall with an assault rifle, killing six Israelis and injuring 30.

The Israeli Government blamed Mr Arafat for the attack and vowed to "teach him a lesson".

The Israeli tanks moved into Ramallah before dawn. They have surrounded the Palestinian leader's headquarters as well as those of the Fatah faction of which he is the head.

"The Israeli tanks have practically occupied about 55% of the town now. Thirteen neighbourhoods are under complete curfew," said Mustafa Barghouthi, a Palestinian human rights activist based in Ramallah.

Mr Arafat has been confined to his headquarters since a series of Palestinian attacks a month ago, but Israel now says it plans to completely isolate him, denying him even foreign visitors.

The BBC's James Reynolds, who is in Ramallah, says there is a real sense of siege outside Mr Arafat's headquarters. Dull explosions can be heard and rubber bullets are being fired.

The Israeli retaliation came after government spokesman Avi Pazner said: "We hold the Palestinian Authority and Arafat directly responsible for the deaths of those who died in this horrible terrorist attack".

"We are going to respond in a manner which will teach the Palestinian Authority a lesson they will not forget," he said.

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat also condemned the Hadera killing and the Israeli retaliation.

"The Palestinian Authority is asking for urgent international intervention to end [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon's military plans to destroy the authority and the peace process with it," Mr Erekat said.

Both the United States and the European Union condemned the killing at Hadera. A US spokesman, Phil Reeker, described it as a "horrific act of terrorism" and urged Mr Arafat to act against militants. The current president of the European Union - Spain's Foreign Minister Josep Pique - said it was very important to arrest those responsible and bring them to justice.

Hundreds of people, who were celebrating a teenage girl's coming-of-age, or Bat Mitzvah, were caught up in the shooting at Hadera.

The militant al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade - a Palestinian armed group associated with Mr Arafat's Fatah organisation - said the attack was carried out by a Fatah member in revenge for the killing of Fatah member Raed Karmi on Monday. It threatened more such attacks.

Israel has not confirmed whether its forces killed the attacker.

The Hadera shooting was the first on civilians inside Israel since Mr Arafat declared a ceasefire on 16 December after a wave of Palestinian suicide attacks.

Several militant Palestinian groups have announced they are no longer obeying Mr Arafat's ceasefire.

[mitchbert]

"We are going to respond in a manner which will teach the Palestinian Authority a lesson they will not forget,"

I'll believe it when I see it. Firing missiles at mainly empty buildings won't do it. Sending in tanks only to recall them hours later hasn't worked. The only "lesson" that will have any effect on Arafat and the Palestinians will occur when the IDF retakes the territories and removes Arafat and his thugs from power and destroys, utterly, the terrorist cells and their leaders. The world will scream bloody murder but in the end do nothing. There is no reasoning with people who pledge your destruction and then regularly act upon that pledge.