Posted on 03/09/2002 4:51:10 PM PST by blam
Yasser Arafat's Gaza office 'destroyed in Israeli air strike'
Missiles fired by Israeli helicopters destroyed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's seaside office building, witnesses say.
At least 25 missiles fired by the Israeli attack helicopters slammed into the compound, collapsing walls.
Israeli gunboats also took part in the assault, witnesses say. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Story filed: 01:35 Sunday 10th March 2002
Even this is too much for the increasingly pro-Palestinian Bush administration.
one .... two .... three ....
Awwwwwwwwwwww
Witnesses: Arafat's Office Destroyed
By IBRAHIM BARZAK
Associated Press Writer
March 9, 2002, 8:40 PM EST
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Missiles fired by Israeli helicopters early Sunday destroyed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's seaside office building in the Gaza Strip, witnesses said.
At least 25 missiles fired by Israeli attack helicopters slammed into the compound, collapsing walls. Israeli gunboats also took part in the assault, witnesses said.
The assault came hours after double attacks by Palestinian militants on Israel. In the first attack, a 9-month-old Israeli girl was killed and more than 30 people were wounded by two gunmen in the seafront town of Netanya. A suicide bomber blew himself up shortly after in a crowded cafe in Jerusalem, killing 12 people including himself.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the Gaza attack.
The building, next to the Gaza beach on the Mediterranean Sea, was empty, witnesses said. Officials evacuated it on Saturday, after Israeli gunboats started firing machine guns at it.
Besides Arafat's office, the building housed the main studios of Palestine TV and the broadcasting authority's satellite channel. At Arafat's insistence, all news and live discussion programs originated from the studios in his office compound.
Arafat himself has not been at the office for more than three months. He has been trapped in his West Bank headquarters in the town of Ramallah by Israeli forces. Israel insists that he must fulfill a number of conditions, including a crackdown on militants and arrest of the assassins of an Israeli Cabinet minister, before they will allow him freedom of movement.
After Palestinian security arrested a leading suspect in the Oct. 17 assassination, there were calls in Israel to remove the restrictions from Arafat's travels.
The seaside building was known to Gazans as "al-Muntada," or the meeting place. Before Arafat began using it as an office, it was a social club for local residents.
Arafat made his headquarters in Gaza in August 1994 after returning triumphantly from exile under terms of interim peace accords with Israel. At first, the building was a small, three-room structure with an entrance hall.
Builders added a second story. Arafat received world leaders there and held many joint news conferences with them after their talks.
After the Israeli attack, the building was a pile of rubble, witnesses said. Black smoke wafted over large parts of the Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City, where the building was located.
One of the missiles was so powerful that its explosion shook nearby buildings and broke windows in a large area, witnesses said.
Excellent point.
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