Oh no.
Driver; stop. Gunner; building, left window. Load Black Can. Fire!
On the way! Target!
Repeat. Load HE. Fire....
Posted on 06/24/2002 6:30:00 AM PDT by Clive
Ramallah — Israeli forces surrounded Yasser Arafat's headquarters before dawn Monday, barricading the front gate with debris and fanning out to take control of a sixth West Bank population centre.
The latest incursion into Ramallah came as the Palestinian leader ordered Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin placed under house arrest in the Gaza Strip, a move sure to anger supporters of the Islamic group behind many suicide bombings in Israel. Mr. Arafat has been under U.S. and Israeli pressure to crack down on Hamas.
Belgian court to rule on war-crimes trial for Sharon 400,000 Palestinians under virtual house arrest
As dozens of tanks and armoured personnel carriers rolled into Ramallah, Israeli soldiers flashed V-for-victory signs and used a bulldozer to fortify a barrier at the front gate of Mr. Arafat's headquarters. The Palestinian leader remained inside the city-block-sized compound, where Israeli forces pinned him for a month during the army's last major operation in the West Bank.
"A large number of tanks and Israeli jeeps are surrounding the president's office from all sides," Mr. Arafat's aide, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said from inside the compound shortly before dawn.
The army confirmed taking up positions in "strategic points in the city" of Ramallah and placing the area under curfew. Explosives were detonated targeting the forces, the army said, slightly injuring one soldier. The army gave no further details, but three explosions had been heard in al-Amari refugee camp.
Israeli forces began reinvading Palestinian towns when back-to-back suicide bombings killed 26 Israelis in Jerusalem last week. The attacks prompted an Israeli policy shift to gradually retaking land with no plans to leave until all Palestinian terror attacks stop. Up to 600,000 Palestinians in the West Bank are now confined under nearly round-the-clock curfews.
"There's no doubt that with the current situation, it's hard to see how we can fight terror effectively without being in the Palestinian areas," Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar said Monday on Israel Radio.
Meanwhile, Palestinian hospital workers and witnesses said Israeli Apache helicopters fired at two cars travelling in a remote area of southern Gaza Strip on Monday, killing six people and injuring five others. Izzedine al- Qassam, of Hamas' military wing, said four Hamas members were among the dead. The Israeli army declined to comment on the incident.
The militant group renewed its threats against Israel and warned Mr. Arafat to lift the house-arrest order against Mr. Yassin. Outside the spiritual leader's Gaza home, masked Hamas supporters armed with machine guns and hand grenades stood watch while Palestinian police kept their distance.
Palestinian police arrested dozens of Hamas members in Gaza on Sunday, including a local leader, Mohammed Shuhab.
Before dawn Monday, Israel arrested eight wanted Palestinians in Hebron, two in Siair village just north of Hebron, another in Jenin and another in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, the army said. Palestinians said many of those arrested in the Hebron area were Hamas members. Soldiers pulled back after making the arrests.
The army also said four Palestinians wanted by security forces were arrested in the Askar refugee camp east of Nablus.
In Jenin, Israeli troops carried out house-to-house searches, arresting the head of military intelligence, Mohammed Abu Hanana, and his bodyguard, Palestinian security officials said. Troops also found an explosives lab, along with rockets and two explosives belts ready to be used by suicide attackers. The army destroyed the lab using a controlled detonation.
It later emerged that in doing so, Israeli forces partly destroyed a commercial building housing a bank. Residents said the northern part of the three-storey building, including a section of the Jenin branch of the Cairo-Amman bank, were destroyed in the explosion.
Since the end of March, when Israeli forces beginning a massive military offensive in the West Bank bombarded Mr. Arafat's compound and stayed there for a month, tanks have been back to his offices three times. Early this month, they blew up some buildings inside the compound and left the same day. They returned about two weeks ago, encircling the compound again for three days before leaving.
During the latest raid, Mr. Arafat was inside the compound along with Faisal Abu Sharakh, head of the Force 17 security apparatus; West Bank intelligence chief Tarik Tirawi, who is wanted by Israel; and Ribhy Arafat, the Palestinians' senior official responsible for co- ordination with the Israelis, Mr. Abu Rdeneh said.
The move into Ramallah widens the Israeli military's scope of control over once-autonomous Palestinian areas. Israeli troops now control most Palestinian population centres in the West Bank, including Nablus, Tulkarem, Jenin, Qalqilya and Bethlehem. Curfew restrictions were temporarily lifted in Nablus and Qalqilya on Monday so residents could shop and go to school.
Israeli officials deny Mr. Arafat's claim they intend to re- establish civil control over the West Bank, making Israel again responsible for municipal services, building permits, education and vital records. An Israeli military administration presided over Palestinians until creation of autonomous areas began in 1994.
"It is clear that this is a continuation of the occupation in our towns and refugee camps," Mr. Arafat said Sunday.
Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said that "Israel will be there in military presence only, in order to crush terror." But Mr. Gissin acknowledged Israel would assist when necessary. Palestinians have reported problems with garbage removal and electricity since Israeli forces moved in and imposed curfews.
To deal with the expanded West Bank operation, the army has begun calling up reservists. Speaking after the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, hard-line Israeli Cabinet Minister Effi Eitam said Israel was at war and would remain in Palestinian areas "for many months, responsible for security there."
Israel was settling back into West Bank towns as both sides - and European and Arab peace brokers - awaited U.S. President George W. Bush's ideas for a fresh start to peacemaking. Before the Ramallah incursion, White House officials said Mr. Bush's address was tentatively planned for Monday, but that the President had to make the final decision and events on the ground could force further postponement.
Both Israeli and Palestinian leaders have been cool to the idea at the heart of Mr. Bush's proposal - a truncated Palestinian state with limited sovereignty - but neither has rejected the plan outright ahead of the speech.
Seriously, if that piece of trash and his toadies killed a member of my family there is no place on this earth that he could hide.........what's up with Israeli "men" these day's ?..........get it done, settle the score now !
Stay Safe !
Oh no.
Driver; stop. Gunner; building, left window. Load Black Can. Fire!
On the way! Target!
Repeat. Load HE. Fire....
Great, catch them all at once. During prayers to mecca would be okay.
They'd save money if they just used bicycles, what's the difference...
Then, after a short "standoff", they back off and let him roam about?
Is there really any tactical advantage to this "seige cycle", or is it all just a symbolic show put on by the IDF to make the citizens FEEL safe; like they're "doing something" - just like our "security measures" in the US? I think it's the latter.
Hehehe. Yep. I remember all the commies screaming last year because of the flechette rounds.
T.S. to the terrorists.
Stack 'em high and deep IDF.
My opinion is more needs to be done and the IDF dog and pony show ain't working IMHO. I feel your correct. It seems really bizzare that the IDF just runs up on Arafats front step, shoots his dog and runs away only to have to come back again and again and again......???? Crazy !
Stay Safe !
An Israeli soldier and a paramedic stand near the body of an unidentified Palestinian gunman and his assault rifle at a checkpoint in the West Bank town of Nablus Monday June 24, 2002. Palestinian witnesses said a tank opened fire at the gunman after he emerged from a car carrying an assault rifle while other accounts say he was killed after he opened fire on troops who stopped his taxi at the checkpoint. (AP Photo/Nasser Istayeh)
An Israeli army tank takes up position in the West Bank City of Ramallah June 24, 2002. Israel sent columns of tanks into Ramallah and surrounded Arafat's presidential headquarters, already battered during fighting previous army incursions into the city just north of Jerusalem.
REUTERS/Ammar Awad
- Jun 24 11:37 AM ET
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.