Israel's assault on Arafat
By Eric Silver, Said Ghazali and Andrew Buncombe
30 March 2002
Israeli forces tightened the noose around a defiant but increasingly fatalistic Yasser Arafat at his headquarters in Ramallah last night. 

Five Palestinians, including one woman, were killed and at least 50 wounded in the city in a day of fighting that saw Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers invade the Palestinian leader's West Bank administrative capital and smash into his compound. 

Last night Mr Arafat was holed up with aides in a windowless office, his only connection to the outside world a mobile phone, as Israeli troops cut off the electricity and destroyed a generator. Earlier, Israelis traded fire with Mr Arafat's guards and shelled the Palestinian intelligence headquarters in the complex. 

Last night Palestinian officials said Israeli troops were advancing around Mr Arafat's office and living quarters. 

The UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, called on Palestinians to stop "terrorist attacks" against Israelis and told Israel not to destroy the Palestinian Authority. In a statement last night, issued before the Security Council held an emergency session, he said he was "deeply alarmed by the rapidly escalating violence" and called on Israel to halt the assault on Mr Arafat's compound. 

The invasion came hours after the Israeli cabinet formally declared Mr Arafat "an enemy" and ordered a response to the suicide bombing in the resort of Netanya that killed 20 people on Wednesday. Another suicide bomber struck yesterday; this time a 16-year-old Palestinian girl, named as Ayat Akhras, blew herself up at a Jerusalem supermarket, killing herself and two Israelis. 

An Israeli officer was shot dead on the outskirts of Ramallah and three soldiers were wounded. The resort to warfare by both sides put the Arab League peace initiative and the ceasefire mission of the US envoy, General Anthony Zinni, on hold. 

From inside the compound, Mr Arafat told Arab television interviewers that he was preparing for whatever fate might hold. "God, let me taste martyrdom," he prayed, then accused the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, of being a terrorist. "The mountain," he warned his old nemesis, "will not be shaken by the wind." 

Later, an emotional Mr Arafat said he was under "complete siege". "They have destroyed completely seven of our buildings," he told CNN. He said troops were "completely around my office and firing [at] my office with all their armaments." 

The incursion into Ramallah drew a furious reaction from Arab leaders and expressions of alarm from Europe. By contrast in Washington, the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, called on Mr Arafat to crack down on those behind the suicide attacks. 

While Mr Powell said both he and President George Bush were gravely concerned about the siege of Ramallah, his strongest comment in relation to the Israeli action was merely to ask Mr Sharon to "carefully consider the course of these actions". He repeated Washington's belief that Israel had the right to protect itself and said Israel had made clear it had no intention of harming the Palestinian leader. 

Earlier Mr Arafat had spoken with Mr Powell. When asked if he could carry out Mr Powell's request that he rein in Palestinian violence, Mr Arafat responded angrily, saying that Palestinians were currently suffering from "the terrorist activities of the Israeli occupation". He said the US should focus on "the problem of our people, of our liberty, of our independent Palestinian state". 

The Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, sent a message to Mr Bush calling for immediate American intervention. Russia and France condemned the Israeli action. 

Mr Arafat's remarks about martyrdom fuelled emotions at a rally in which thousands of Palestinians marched to show support, saying a "river of blood" from suicide attacks would flow if Israel hurt him. 

"We will send dozens of martyrs [suicide bombers] inside Israel if President Arafat is harmed by the Zionists," a member of the Islamic militant group Hamas told a rally in Gaza City. The Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, vowed that Israeli raids and bombardments would "not end the resistance". "We will continue ... until victory or martyrdom," he said. The few civilians still on the streets of Ramallah yesterday cursed the Israelis and their American allies. Farida, a 55-year-old grandmother, protested: "America doesn't support us. They consider us terrorists. But we are not animals, we are a civilised people. We are paying the price of this war. The Israelis are killing our children." 

Palestinian spokesmen reported that the Israelis had fired shells at Mr Arafat's office, demolishing a wall. They also seized seven buildings in the compound, including the offices of Palestinian intelligence and the Interior Ministry. 

Mr Sharon announced an "extensive" campaign "to crush the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure". "We have done everything in our power to achieve a ceasefire," he said.. "All we have received in return was terrorism, terrorism and more terrorism." 

The invasion was triggered by a series of attacks, which began on Wednesday, the eve of Passover. Two bombers blew themselves upon their way to a Jerusalem shopping centre. Then another bomber struck at Netanya. Barely 24 hours later, a gunman killed a family of four in the West Bank settlement of Elon Moreh. Yesterday, a Palestinian stabbed two settlers dead in Netzarim in the Gaza Strip, while the day ended with the 16-year-old's suicide bombing. 

For Israelis, the Passover eve massacre was the ultimate provocation. "The price in blood was too high," Nahum Barnea wrote in Yediot Aharonot. "So was the symbolic price of killing Jews at the seder table. The Netanya attack reduced Sharon's room for manoeuvre to zero." 

Yet doubts persist. Danny Rothschild, a retired general and former peace negotiator, said force would never end terrorism. He urged the army to focus on defending Israel's population centres. 

Others asked what Israel would do if Mr Arafat's administration collapsed. Ministers have said Israel does not intend to reoccupy Palestinian towns. As Mr Barnea said: "Who will fill the vacuum? Who will take responsibility for the population?" 

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