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Israeli Army Leaves Arafat Compound After Killing Guard
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An
Israeli occupation jeep and armored personnel carrier positioned
outside Arafat’s compound
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RAMALLAH,
West Bank, June 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli
occupation forces which stormed Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat’s compound overnight left the area on Thursday morning, June
6, after killing one guard, Palestinian security forces said.
The
50 tanks and armored personnel carriers which had deployed around the
building at around
2:00 am
Thursday (2300 GMT Wednesday) pulled back six hours later, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
Israeli occupation army shot dead one of Arafat’s bodyguards,
wounded six other men, and prevented ambulances from reaching the
wounded.
The
new siege of Arafat’s offices came as the
United States
increased its criticism of Arafat’s failure to curb anti-Israeli
attacks, with hints that
Washington
is losing patience with the Palestinian president, AFP reported.
Arafat
was said to be unhurt and Israeli forces had not entered the office
building itself.
Palestinian
hospital officials said Israeli forces had refused to allow ambulances
through to evacuate the wounded.
The
tanks opened fire with shells and heavy machineguns on Arafat’s
offices, which took a battering when Israeli forces besieged him in a
five-week stand-off which started after a similar bomb attack late
March.
Israeli
public radio quoted an official as saying the operation was not
targeting Arafat himself, nor aiming to impose a new siege on him.
Palestinian
security officials said around 50 tanks penetrated Ramallah from the
north and made a bee-line for the headquarters, triggering intense
gunfights with presidential guards armed with light weapons.
A
witness in the building told AFP the Israeli tanks had fired around 30
shells at Arafat’s headquarters, destroying the third floor of one
of the buildings in the complex.
A
wing of the headquarters housing the room usually hosting Arafat's
news conferences was also badly damaged, the witness said.
Israeli
radio said the army dynamited one building in the compound.
The
army alleged in a statement its forces had taken positions around the
headquarters building “because it is the nerve center of the
Palestinian Authority which is directly responsible for the terrorism,
which it orders.”
It
said its forces had responded to fire and offered to evacuate the
wounded if they submitted to identity checks, which it said the
Palestinians refused.
Israeli
troops at a checkpoint near Ramallah said the city was closed off
until Sunday.
The
attack appeared more ferocious than the fighting that erupted after
Israel
's March 29 invasion, when Arafat was pinned down until May 2.
Security
officials said the tanks were accompanied by six giant bulldozers
which had started leveling some buildings in the compound area.
The
attack occurred hours after a resistance fighter from the Palestinian
group Islamic Jihad blew up a bus in northern
Israel
, killing 17 Israelis, 13 of them soldiers, the army said. Earlier
reports had put the toll at 16.
Hours
after the blast some 30 Israeli tanks backed by Apache helicopters had
streamed into Jenin, 15 kilometers (10 miles) from Megiddo Junction,
firing as they advanced.
The
refugee camp in Jenin was the scene of Israeli war crimes in April
during
Israel
’s bloody month-long
West Bank
military offensive.
On
a diplomatic front, Tenet met with Arafat on Tuesday, June 5, just
hours before the bomb blast at Megiddo junction, and told him that
Sharon would have a “free hand” to retaliate if the bombings
continued, a senior Palestinian official said.
A
senior Israeli official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity,
said
Israel
was waiting for “tacit approval” from
Washington
to marginalize Arafat.
He
claimed the
U.S.
administration was “wavering” in its conviction that there is no
alternative to Arafat, and that
Sharon
would press the point when he meets Bush in
Washington
.
A
senior administration official, meanwhile, confirmed on condition of
anonymity that the
United States
, dissatisfied with Arafat's leadership, was reaching out to other
Palestinian leaders.
That
was reflected in the way Ari Fleischer, a spokesman for U.S. President
George W. Bush demanded that the Palestinian Authority take steps to
thwart future attacks. “The president is interested in results, from
whatever corner they may come from. If that's Chairman Arafat, that's
fine with the president; if it's others, that's fine with the
president,” said the spokesman.
Sharon,
who has made no secret of wishing to marginalize Arafat, nor even of
his regret at not having killed him when he invaded
Beirut in 1982 to flush out the Palestine Liberation Organization, is due to
fly to Washingtonon Saturday, June 8, and meet Bush Monday morning, June 10.
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