Arafat has been under Israeli siege since December 2001 (AFP)

RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli military vehicles surrounded the Ramallah headquarters of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat with reports that occupation troops conducted recently a simulation of what would happen when Arafat dies.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces shot dead Saturday morning, March 6, a Palestinian policeman in the West Bank.

Troops were blocking the compound, known in Arabic as the "Mukataa", the main entrance as well as southern and western access, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Israeli security sources confirmed the presence of troops in the area but said they were undertaking “a routine activity, nothing exceptional”.

A Palestinian security source told AFP the Israeli army had informed Arafat's Palestinian Authority that soldiers had no intention of entering the Mukataa.

Arafat has been under virtual Israeli house arrest in his Ramallah headquarters since December 2001.

Israel says the action was needed because Arafat was not a partner for peace and was morally and financially supporting Palestinian resistance operations.

Since the launch of the second Intifada in September 2000, the Israeli army has raided the Mukataa several times and destroyed most buildings inside the compound.

Last September, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed by majority to expel the Palestinian leader.

The U.S., for its part, killed a U.N. draft resolution condemning Israel for threatening to expel Arafat.

‘Post-Arafat Exercise’

The continuing and crippling besiege coincided with reports that Israeli forces conducted a post-Arafat simulation.

The exercise, which involved senior officers, examined several possible scenarios of what would happen when the Palestinian leader passes away “by natural cause”, Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported Friday.

The “war game”, the paper added, covered everything: the funeral, the mass rallies, power struggles for the office and the first and foremost possibility of Hamas assuming power.

The army regards “the day after” as a “new chapter” for the Palestinian Authority and in history.

Last fall, there was speculation about the 75-year-old's health after he appeared to be fatigued, but after medical treatment he seemed to be feeling fine.

Palestinian Minister of Negotiations Saeb Erekat told Reuters News Agencies that instead of conducting a post-Arafat exercise, Israel should focus on “the day after the end of the occupation”.

Last year Israeli no. two Ehud Olmert said killing in Arafat “is another option”.

Palestinian Killed

Separately, a 19-year-old Palestinian policeman was killed Saturday morning by Israeli occupation troops in the West Bank refugee camp of Tul Karem.

The dead man was identified as Taher Abu Sariyeh, a member of the Palestinian security forces. Abu Sariyeh was in uniform at the time of his death, Ha’aretz said.

On Friday, a Palestinian teenager was seriously wounded in the head by Israeli army gunfire Friday near the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

Abdallah al-Awna, 13, was hit when Israeli soldiers opened fire at a group of stone-throwers protesting an Israeli incursion in the village of Jabaa.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided Friday to seal off the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a preparation for the approaching Jewish carnival of Purim.