A rchive Date
[ 06-06-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Israel ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWS/mideast_jun6-ap.html
Israeli forces briefly enter Arafat HQ
By IBRAHIM HAZBOUN -- The Associated Press
Thursday, June 6, 2002
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Israeli troops stormed Yasser Arafat's headquarters early Thursday, blew up three buildings in the sprawling compound and shelled the Palestinian leader's living area in response to a Palestinian suicide attack on an Israeli bus that killed 17 passengers.
A tank shell hit about 5 feet from Arafat's bed, punching a hole into the wall dividing his bedroom and an adjacent bathroom.
Pointing to his dust-covered bed, broken bedroom mirror and shattered bathroom tiles, Arafat suggested Israel was trying to kill him. "I was supposed to sleep here last night but I had some work downstairs," he said. "Of course they (the Israelis) knew where I was. Everybody knows this is my bedroom."
An Israeli army spokesman, Capt. Jacob Dallal, said Arafat was not the target of the operation. "If there had been any intention of harming Arafat, it would not have been a problem," Dallal said.
In previous attacks on Arafat's headquarters, Israel also said it had no intention of harming him.
Thursday's assault with bulldozers and tanks came just a month after troops withdrew from the compound following a 34-day siege that confined Arafat to several rooms. Though Israel's stated goal at the time was to isolate Arafat and remove him from contacts with the outside world, the virtual house arrest turned him into a heroic figure in the eyes of Palestinians and much of the Arab world.
There has been speculation in Israeli media that another major Palestinian terror attack would prompt the Israeli government to expel Arafat. However, other prominent Israelis warn that expelling Arafat might lead to chaos and more violence.
Thursday's attack on Arafat's compound came in response to a suicide bombing Wednesday in which a member of the Islamic Jihad group driving a car packed with 42 pounds of explosives pulled up alongside a moving bus and detonated the load, igniting a huge fireball. Seventeen Israelis and the assailant were killed.
The force of the blast flipped the bus over twice. Many passengers were trapped in the burning vehicles, while others were hurled onto the asphalt. Among the dead were 13 soldiers in their late teens and early 20s. "Forever 20," read the headline in the Yediot Ahronot daily Thursday, alongside the pictures of the victims.
Islamic Jihad identified the attacker as Hamza Samudi from the West Bank town of Jenin. Relatives said Samudi was 16, which would make him one of the youngest suicide attackers in recent years.
Following the attack -- the deadliest since Israel wrapped up its six-week military offensive against Palestinian militias last month -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon delayed by two days his departure for Washington where he is to meet with President Bush at the White House on Monday.
A senior U.S. official said Israel did not inform the United States before the incursion into Ramallah, and Washington did not give prior approval.
Earlier this week, visiting CIA chief George Tenet warned Arafat that if he did not stop suicide bombings, he would stand alone against Israeli reprisals, a suggestion that the United States would not try to rein in Sharon.
Israeli tanks entered Arafat's compound at about 2 a.m. Thursday. The military said its forces took control of Arafat's headquarters "in the wake of a wave of Palestinian terrorism sweeping the state of Israel," including the attack on the bus. The statement said the Palestinian Authority is "directly responsible for terrorism that originates in its territory."
Troops blew up three buildings, including the Palestinian intelligence headquarters, reducing them to piles of rubble.
The army said that during the operation, Palestinian security forces opened fire at Israeli soldiers who returned fire. Palestinian security officials insisted they did not shoot at the Israelis. A Palestinian security guard was killed.
It was not immediately clear what caused the damage to Arafat's three-story office building. In addition to the direct hit on Arafat's bathroom, reporters also saw a hole apparently made by a tank shell in an outer wall on the third floor.
Other damage apparently was caused by the force of the nearby explosions; the intelligence headquarters that was blown up shared a wall with Arafat's office.
In several rooms in the office building, wires and debris dangled from the ceiling, windows were shot out and pictures were shattered.
"It was terrible," said Palestinian security guard Ahmed Ali, 24. "We spent the night witnessing them destroying the buildings around us, the sound of explosions, tanks rolling around us."
Two hours after the Israeli soldiers left Thursday, Arafat emerged from his office building, flashing a V-for-victory sign as he was greeted by about 100 civilians at the entrance to the building. "This will only increase the steadfastness of our people," Arafat said, referring to the Israeli attack.
Elsewhere in the West Bank on Thursday, Israeli forces left the city of Nablus, which they entered a week ago to carry out a series of searches for Palestinian militants and caches of explosives and weapons.
At the beginning of a large-scale invasion of the West Bank on March 29, following an earlier string of Palestinian suicide bombings, Israeli tanks smashed into the Ramallah compound and surrounded Arafat's office, trapping the Palestinian leader until May 1.
Wednesday's bus attack, claimed by the Islamic Jihad, might complicate U.S. efforts to start a new Mideast peace initiative.
In Washington, Bush condemned the bombing. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that "this attack underscores the fact that these terrorists are the worst enemies of not only the people of Israel who seek peace but also the Palestinian people." He said the attack also highlights the importance of developing a Palestinian security force that can curb attacks.
The Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, Abdullah Shami, called the attack "part of our resistance." The group's overall leader, Ramadan Shalah said in Damascus, Syria, that it was meant to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the 1967 war, in which Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, claimed by the Palestinians.
While suicide bombers have often boarded buses and blown themselves up inside, Wednesday's attack was different. By using a vehicle to transport the bomb, the attackers found a way to use a much larger explosive and cause much more damage.
 World Fact Book (CIA]
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