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Israeli Warplanes Pound Gaza for Third Straight Day
GAZA CITY, Dec 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli warplanes slammed missiles into Yasser Arafat's Gaza City headquarters for the third night in a row Friday, as Israel pressed ahead with an intense military and political assault against the Palestinian leader, news agencies reported.
The air strikes followed pre-dawn army raids in the West Bank that killed six Palestinian policemen and netted scores of others. Another two Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes in the flashpoint town of Al-Khalil (Hebron).
Israeli tanks remain just 200 meters (yards) from Arafat's offices in Ramallah on the West Bank, where the embattled Palestinian leader - dismissed by Israel as "irrelevant" - has been under virtual house arrest for more than 10 days.
The air strikes came as U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni met in Amman with Jordan's King Abdullah II in a desperate bid to find a way out of the violence that has gripped the region for almost 15 months.
But the White House hinted that Zinni, whose mission has coincided with a dangerous escalation of attack and counter-attack, could soon return from the violence-wracked region to the United States.
A senior Arafat aide accused Israel of carrying out a "massacre" in the West Bank where Palestinian security sources said six policemen were killed and warned of a "catastrophe" if the escalation continued. And Hamas issued an ominous statement announcing it would pursue its operations.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the Jewish state would look for a new peace partner to replace Arafat, who was earlier this week called "irrelevant" despite U.S. statements that he "remains the leader" of the Palestinian Authority.
"We will talk with other people. One can assume that people will rise from within the Palestinian leadership who will be willing to discuss the issues dividing us," he told
Ha'aretz Friday.
Despite calls by Germany to cut aid to Israel in order to punish hardline Prime Minister Ariel Sharon due to increased violence against Palestinians, the United States kept the heat on Arafat, urging his major backers in Europe not to invite or host Arafat until he takes steps to quell the violence.
"We want him to stay put. The main idea is don't invite him to Europe, make him stay there [in the Middle East], help me keep his feet to the fire to do the kinds of things we all agreed he has to do," an official said.
U.S. President George W. Bush told Arafat "to fight terror, bring those to justice who are killing - murderers - in the Middle East."
"The world expects Chairman Arafat to lead, and so do I. And I continue to work with our friends and allies to talk to Mr. Arafat in very blunt terms," Bush said in Washington.
But Arafat, the symbol of Palestinian nationalism for four decades, also received solace from Turkey - one of Israel keys allies - and the European Union.
"The democratically elected Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, and the Palestinian authorities are the only interlocutors in this conflict for Israel," Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said at an E.U. summit.
In Ankara, Turkish presidential spokesman Tacan Ildem, said, "For us, Arafat remains the Palestinian leader."
Meanwhile, on the ground in the region, the situation remained tense.
Israeli F-16 warplanes pounded Arafat's presidential compound in Gaza City, claiming it was in retaliation for a mortar attack on a Jewish settlement further north.
Missiles were fired from U.S.-made fighter jets into the headquarters of Force 17 - Arafat's elite guard - inside the compound, the army said, pledging to "continue to act with all the means at its disposal to guarantee the security of civilians and troops alike".
Hospital officials in Gaza said 17 people, including four women and children, who were walking near the site were slightly wounded.
Palestinian security forces and witnesses said two Force 17 offices were destroyed while several houses nearby were damaged along with a VIP lounge used to host Arafat's guests.
Fires blazed out of control around the headquarters, which has been hit several times since December 3, when Israel launched a series of air strikes on Arafat's institutions after Hamas attacks.
Israeli troops also killed two Palestinian men during a clash in the flashpoint Al-Khalil (Hebron) region, Palestinian police and the army said.
Overnight, Israeli troops, backed by tank and helicopter cover, carried out at least five pre-dawn raids that zeroed in on West Bank targets, killing six Palestinian policemen in the town of Salfit and arresting as many as 40 people, including Hamas members.
"What happened in Salfit amounts to a new massacre carried out by the Israeli forces under a decision from Sharon," Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeina told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He said the Palestinian Authority "strongly warns against a catastrophe in the region if the escalation persists", saying Israeli operations were aimed at sabotaging U.S. and international peace efforts.
Hamas marked the 14th anniversary of its foundation saying it will not be intimidated by Israel and vowed, "not to stop the caravan of resistance and martyr operations."
And Hamas received the blessing of Hizbollah, the Lebanese group which fought Israel's 22-year occupation of south Lebanon, eventually ousting the occupation forces in May 2000. Hizbollah urged Hamas to "stay tough."
Nearly 1,100 people have been killed since the start of the uprising against Israeli occupation in September 2000. So far, the death toll comprises 840 Palestinians and 235 Israelis, which also includes 13 Israeli Arabs.
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