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Arafat's Office Isolated Amid Rubble As Israeli Army Razes Rest of Compound
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Israeli soldiers getting ready to enter Arafat office building, the last standing in the Ramallah HQ
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RAMALLAH, September 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's personal headquarters was all that remained of a key symbol of his Palestinian Authority Friday, September 20, 2002, after the Israeli army razed every other structure still standing in the 3,000 square meter (30,000 square foot) compound.
Israeli troops moved into the sand bagged compound and finished off the destruction they started during a month-long siege last spring.
More than 10 buildings and prefabricated offices were dynamited or bulldozed on Friday alone, the Israeli army said.
The Israeli forces also destroyed a bridge linking the building housing Arafat's office to another one. The move threatens the collapse of Arafat's office building, according to Qatar-based al-Jazeera Satellite Channel. Earlier, al-Jazeera reported that the Israeli forces used barbed wire to isolate Arafat's office building completely.
The complex, known as the Muqataa, long served as the headquarters for Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Its handover to the Palestinians in 1994 had been a key token of the peace process after the signing of the Oslo accords the previous year.
Before the army moved back into the Muqataa at the end of March, the fortified compound walls contained scores of Palestinian Authority services and facilities.
A large building which used to house Tawfiq Tirawi's West Bank intelligence headquarters was razed by the occupation army Friday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Israeli troops also demolished the oldest structure on the site, a huge rectangular building at the heart of the complex, which housed Arafat's elite Force-17 bodyguard, the National Security Services, Arafat's archives and various reception rooms.
The army also finished leveling another building, damaged during its siege earlier this year. The structure housed part of the interior ministry, the offices of the Ramallah governor and the military intelligence headquarters.
An adjacent building used as a prison had been entirely demolished last spring.
The area was sealed off by the army and declared a closed military zone, making detailed reports on the destruction difficult to obtain.
However, Arafat's personal garage and dozens of Jeeps and Mercedes used by security officials were also thought to have been destroyed.
Depleted by months of successive Israeli military operations and reoccupations, the Palestinian security services struggled to reorganize, often sharing the remaining buildings inside the compound or seeking temporary shelter in prefab dwellings.
A string of such make shift offices were destroyed Friday.
The Ramallah compound was originally built by the British during their 1923-1948 mandate of Palestine and later used as a base by Jordan during its administration of the West Bank.
In the wake of the 1967 Middle East war, the building came under Israeli control, where it became the army's command and control center for the West Bank.
With Ramallah located at a major crossroads, the compound was perfectly placed for housing both Israel's military and civil administration for the territory.
The compound was also used as a prison for Palestinian detainees, making it a key symbol of the Israeli occupation.
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