A rchive Date
[ 20-09-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Palestine ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/arafat_sep19-ap.html
Arafat's headquarters surrounded
By HADEEL WAHDAN - Associated Press
Thursday, September 19, 2002
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Israeli tanks entered Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Thursday, Palestinian security officials said, after a suicide bomber blew himself up on a Tel Aviv bus, killing five other people.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment, but military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that an Israeli military operation was underway. The Palestinian officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said two guards were injured during the incursion.
An official inside the compound said the Israeli tanks had advanced to the area of a helicopter landing pad outside Arafat's office building. Arafat's office is in a central section of a large building, protected by piles of sandbags.
Israel has held Ramallah under siege for most of the year, with tanks breaking into the city-block-sized compound several times, destroying some of the buildings. Arafat has been confined to the building most of the time since last December.
The incursion came as Israel's Cabinet met in special session to consider a response to the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, the second such attack in Israel in two days after a six-week lull.
After past terror attacks, hardline Israeli Cabinet ministers have called for expulsion of Arafat. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has denounced Arafat repeatedly, holding him responsible for Palestinian violence, and has declared him irrelevant to peace initiatives, but has resisted pressure to expel him.
Palestinians charge that Israel's harsh military measures are responsible for the violence. On the one hand, they say, Israel's occupation of most of the West Bank population centers has left Palestinian security unable to operate, and on the other, the Israeli curfews and roadblocks have built Palestinian resentment and frustration, leading to a violent response.
The Palestinian Authority issued a statement denouncing the Tel Aviv bombing, saying it gives Sharon's government a reason to retaliate.
World Fact Book (CIA)]
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