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28 oct 2004
Palestinian officials rush to bedside of ailing Arafat
The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, was in a serious condition last night after a sharp deterioration in his health, Palestinian officials said. A three-man emergency committee of Palestinian leaders was rapidly appointed as an ambulance rushed doctors to his Ramallah compound, where he has been confined by Israel for more than two years.
One senior Palestinian official, who declined to be named, said that Mr Arafat, 75, was slipping in and out of consciousness.
He said the Palestinian leader was "extremely ill" several days after aides said he was suffering only from flu and gallstones.
The Palestinian foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, said Mr Arafat was being fed intravenously.
Another Palestinian leader, Mustafa Barghouti, who visited Mr Arafat last night, said: "The president is seriously sick. He has been unable to eat and he was vomiting. He has severe gastro-intestinal problems. There is a team of doctors with him and two other teams are on their way. He is a 75-year-old man, so it's serious."
Dr Barghouti said he believed Mr Arafat would recover and that there were no plans to move him to hospital. But the drama was sufficiently serious to require Mr Arafat's wife, Suha, to fly to Ramallah from Paris, where she lives.
His personal doctor for the past 20 years, Ashraf Kurdi, a Jordanian neurologist, was also en route for Ramallah, from Jordan.
"Arafat's aides called me urgently. I am taking a team to assess his condition and do whatever is possible that can be done. They refused to tell me what his condition was," said Dr Kurdi.
Israeli officials told Haaretz newspaper last night that Mr Arafat would be permitted to travel anywhere he chooses for treatment, after more than two years as a prisoner in his Ramallah compound, the muqata. But the Palestinian leader has previously said he will not leave the occupied territories without a guarantee he will be allowed to return.
Mr Arafat appointed three officials - the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, his predecessor, Mahmoud Abbas, and Salim Zanoun, a senior Palestinian Liberation Organisation official - to run affairs during his incapacitation.
Rawhi Fatuh, the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, would become temporary head of the Palestinian Authority if Mr Arafat were to die.
Mr Arafat has suffered from ill health for years and his latest affliction became apparent 10 days ago when he was unable to complete the first day of Ramadan prayers. Doctors from Egypt and Tunisia have visited, and he underwent an endoscopy to check his stomach earlier this week, fuelling speculation that he has intestinal cancer.
Mr Shaath said the doctors had ruled that out.
Palestinians continue to blame his ailment on a stubborn bout of flu.
Shut away in his Ramallah redoubt and sidelined by Israel from the moribund Middle East peace process, Mr Arafat continues to wield considerable authority in the Palestinian sphere and many have grave doubts about the post-Arafat era.
Some have predicted a bloody battle for ascendancy between the various factions once Mr Arafat has relinquished his three-decade hold over the Palestinian movement.
One senior Palestinian official, who declined to be named, said that Mr Arafat, 75, was slipping in and out of consciousness.
He said the Palestinian leader was "extremely ill" several days after aides said he was suffering only from flu and gallstones.
The Palestinian foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, said Mr Arafat was being fed intravenously.
Another Palestinian leader, Mustafa Barghouti, who visited Mr Arafat last night, said: "The president is seriously sick. He has been unable to eat and he was vomiting. He has severe gastro-intestinal problems. There is a team of doctors with him and two other teams are on their way. He is a 75-year-old man, so it's serious."
Dr Barghouti said he believed Mr Arafat would recover and that there were no plans to move him to hospital. But the drama was sufficiently serious to require Mr Arafat's wife, Suha, to fly to Ramallah from Paris, where she lives.
His personal doctor for the past 20 years, Ashraf Kurdi, a Jordanian neurologist, was also en route for Ramallah, from Jordan.
"Arafat's aides called me urgently. I am taking a team to assess his condition and do whatever is possible that can be done. They refused to tell me what his condition was," said Dr Kurdi.
Israeli officials told Haaretz newspaper last night that Mr Arafat would be permitted to travel anywhere he chooses for treatment, after more than two years as a prisoner in his Ramallah compound, the muqata. But the Palestinian leader has previously said he will not leave the occupied territories without a guarantee he will be allowed to return.
Mr Arafat appointed three officials - the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, his predecessor, Mahmoud Abbas, and Salim Zanoun, a senior Palestinian Liberation Organisation official - to run affairs during his incapacitation.
Rawhi Fatuh, the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, would become temporary head of the Palestinian Authority if Mr Arafat were to die.
Mr Arafat has suffered from ill health for years and his latest affliction became apparent 10 days ago when he was unable to complete the first day of Ramadan prayers. Doctors from Egypt and Tunisia have visited, and he underwent an endoscopy to check his stomach earlier this week, fuelling speculation that he has intestinal cancer.
Mr Shaath said the doctors had ruled that out.
Palestinians continue to blame his ailment on a stubborn bout of flu.
Shut away in his Ramallah redoubt and sidelined by Israel from the moribund Middle East peace process, Mr Arafat continues to wield considerable authority in the Palestinian sphere and many have grave doubts about the post-Arafat era.
Some have predicted a bloody battle for ascendancy between the various factions once Mr Arafat has relinquished his three-decade hold over the Palestinian movement.
26 oct 2004
Israel allows ill Arafat to leave his HQ
The Israeli government has given Yasser Arafat permission to leave his Ramallah headquarters for the first time in two years to receive medical treatment, following visits by two teams of foreign doctors to treat the 75 year-old Palestinian leader for what his aides insist is only flu. The defence ministry said Mr Arafat would be allowed to visit a Ramallah hospital on condition he returns to the battered headquarters, still partially destroyed after an Israeli assault in 2002, that has become his de facto prison.
But Palestinian officials said Mr Arafat had made no request to visit the hospital and would not be doing so.
Mr Arafat has previously refused to leave the compound, known as the muqata, because he feared Israeli forces would move in to seize a number of wanted Palestinian combatants sheltering there.
The Palestinian leader's health has been the subject of intense speculation over recent days following the visit of two teams of doctors, from Egypt and Tunisia, to examine him.
A delegation of five Tunisian doctors arrived at the muqata at the weekend after the Tunisian president, Zine al-Abidine, asked the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to allow them in.
Although Palestinian officials stuck by the story that their leader only has flu, Israeli officials said that the specialists among the Tunisian team suggested he was being treated for something much more serious.
The Tunisian doctors carried out a series of tests including an endoscopy to check his stomach. Speculation has centred on the possibility of intestinal cancer.
The doctors declined to talk to reporters. Palestinian officials said the doctors had concluded that Mr Arafat did not need surgery at this stage. They denied he had cancer.
Ten days ago, Egyptian doctors visited Mr Arafat after he was unable to complete the first day of Ramadan prayers and did not follow his usual ritual of receiving delegations at the muqata for his holiday blessings.
Israel's Channel Two television reported that both teams of doctors concluded that Mr Arafat was suffering from gallstones and had an intestinal infection.
Mr Arafat's personal doctor, Ashraf al-Kurdi, said his patient is in relatively good health but had suffered a bout of acute flu.
A Palestinian cabinet minister, Saeb Erekat, said Mr Arafat's health was good.
An Arab Israeli MP, Ahmed Tibi, a doctor who is close to Mr Arafat, told Israeli radio the Palestinian leader's health was normal. "He was struck by the flu recently but is better," he said.
Concerns about Mr Arafat's health has also prompted discussion about whether he might be granted permission to travel abroad for treatment.
The Israeli government is divided about whether to permit him to leave the country. Some politicians would like to drive him into exile, others argue that it is better to keep him imprisoned and isolated in Ramallah.
Mr Arafat is likely to reject any permission to travel without a guarantee from the Israelis that he could return to the occupied territories.
Sakher Habash, a central committee member of Mr Arafat's Fatah movement, said he believed that if the Palestinian leader left the occupied territories, Israel would use the opportunity to expel him or to kill him, "in a way that his death would seem to be a normal death".
He added: "It seems that Israel is trying to spread rumours about Arafat's health and his need for a surgery."
But Palestinian officials said Mr Arafat had made no request to visit the hospital and would not be doing so.
Mr Arafat has previously refused to leave the compound, known as the muqata, because he feared Israeli forces would move in to seize a number of wanted Palestinian combatants sheltering there.
The Palestinian leader's health has been the subject of intense speculation over recent days following the visit of two teams of doctors, from Egypt and Tunisia, to examine him.
A delegation of five Tunisian doctors arrived at the muqata at the weekend after the Tunisian president, Zine al-Abidine, asked the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to allow them in.
Although Palestinian officials stuck by the story that their leader only has flu, Israeli officials said that the specialists among the Tunisian team suggested he was being treated for something much more serious.
The Tunisian doctors carried out a series of tests including an endoscopy to check his stomach. Speculation has centred on the possibility of intestinal cancer.
The doctors declined to talk to reporters. Palestinian officials said the doctors had concluded that Mr Arafat did not need surgery at this stage. They denied he had cancer.
Ten days ago, Egyptian doctors visited Mr Arafat after he was unable to complete the first day of Ramadan prayers and did not follow his usual ritual of receiving delegations at the muqata for his holiday blessings.
Israel's Channel Two television reported that both teams of doctors concluded that Mr Arafat was suffering from gallstones and had an intestinal infection.
Mr Arafat's personal doctor, Ashraf al-Kurdi, said his patient is in relatively good health but had suffered a bout of acute flu.
A Palestinian cabinet minister, Saeb Erekat, said Mr Arafat's health was good.
An Arab Israeli MP, Ahmed Tibi, a doctor who is close to Mr Arafat, told Israeli radio the Palestinian leader's health was normal. "He was struck by the flu recently but is better," he said.
Concerns about Mr Arafat's health has also prompted discussion about whether he might be granted permission to travel abroad for treatment.
The Israeli government is divided about whether to permit him to leave the country. Some politicians would like to drive him into exile, others argue that it is better to keep him imprisoned and isolated in Ramallah.
Mr Arafat is likely to reject any permission to travel without a guarantee from the Israelis that he could return to the occupied territories.
Sakher Habash, a central committee member of Mr Arafat's Fatah movement, said he believed that if the Palestinian leader left the occupied territories, Israel would use the opportunity to expel him or to kill him, "in a way that his death would seem to be a normal death".
He added: "It seems that Israel is trying to spread rumours about Arafat's health and his need for a surgery."
- 25 Oct 2004
Arafat 'allowed to leave compound'Israel has agreed to allow the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, to leave his compound to receive medical treatment, Israeli media reported tonight. - 13 Oct 2004
- Is it the end of the road for Arafat?
Imprisoned in his compound, facing assassination and internationally isolated, the Palestinian leader says he has been in worse trouble.
15 sept 2004
Sharon hints that Arafat may be killed
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
Ariel Sharon has threatened that Yasser Arafat will meet the same fate as Hamas leaders who were assassinated earlier this year by the Israeli military. In ambiguous comments to Israeli newspapers to mark the Jewish new year, the prime minister said he intends to force the Palestinian leader into exile. But he also hinted that Mr Arafat might be killed.
Speaking to Ma'ariv newspaper, Mr Sharon made direct reference to the Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by a missile in Gaza in March, and his successor as the Islamic resistance movement's leader, Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, who was killed by the Israelis the following month.
"We operated against Ahmed Yassin and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi when we thought the time was suitable. On the matter of Arafat we'll operate in the same way, when we find the convenient and suitable time. One needs to find the time and to do what has to be done," said Mr Sharon.
However, the prime minister told other newspapers that he would send Mr Arafat into exile. Sheikh Yassin and Mr al-Rantissi were both exiled from the occupied territories at one time.
A prominent Palestinian minister, Saeb Erekat, said Mr Sharon's comments show that he intends "to kill President Arafat and to push the Palestinian people toward chaos".
But the Israeli prime minister's son, Omri, a member of parliament, said that the possibility of assassination "does not exist" and that Israel should leave Mr Arafat "stuck" in his battered Ramallah compound.
"If we do this foolishness and hit him, will an [alternative Palestinian leader] arise? No, he will be seen as your collaborator," Omri Sharon told members of the ruling Likud's central committee.
In April, Mr Sharon backed away from a personal pledge to President Bush not to harm the Palestinian leader by saying that whoever kills Jews or orders their deaths "is a marked man".
Ariel Sharon has threatened that Yasser Arafat will meet the same fate as Hamas leaders who were assassinated earlier this year by the Israeli military. In ambiguous comments to Israeli newspapers to mark the Jewish new year, the prime minister said he intends to force the Palestinian leader into exile. But he also hinted that Mr Arafat might be killed.
Speaking to Ma'ariv newspaper, Mr Sharon made direct reference to the Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by a missile in Gaza in March, and his successor as the Islamic resistance movement's leader, Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, who was killed by the Israelis the following month.
"We operated against Ahmed Yassin and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi when we thought the time was suitable. On the matter of Arafat we'll operate in the same way, when we find the convenient and suitable time. One needs to find the time and to do what has to be done," said Mr Sharon.
However, the prime minister told other newspapers that he would send Mr Arafat into exile. Sheikh Yassin and Mr al-Rantissi were both exiled from the occupied territories at one time.
A prominent Palestinian minister, Saeb Erekat, said Mr Sharon's comments show that he intends "to kill President Arafat and to push the Palestinian people toward chaos".
But the Israeli prime minister's son, Omri, a member of parliament, said that the possibility of assassination "does not exist" and that Israel should leave Mr Arafat "stuck" in his battered Ramallah compound.
"If we do this foolishness and hit him, will an [alternative Palestinian leader] arise? No, he will be seen as your collaborator," Omri Sharon told members of the ruling Likud's central committee.
In April, Mr Sharon backed away from a personal pledge to President Bush not to harm the Palestinian leader by saying that whoever kills Jews or orders their deaths "is a marked man".
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Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi
However, it is thought unlikely the prime minister intends to move against Mr Arafat in the near future. The threat may be timed to try to reassure critics on the far right that the government's plan to pull 7,500 Jews out of the Gaza strip, and a small number from a part of the West Bank, does not represent a weakening of its resolve to confront the Palestinian leadership. Mr Sharon's security cabinet yesterday approved steps to begin the Gaza pullout, including compensation payments to Jewish settlers of up to £280,000. The government is offering bonuses to settlers who agree to leave of their own accord in the hope of defusing resistance to the pullout. |
The government expects to spend £350m compensating settlers and a similar amount moving military installations and other infrastructure.
Mr Sharon also rebuffed pressure from his finance minister and chief political rival, Binyamin Netanyahu, for a referendum on the withdrawal.
Mr Netanyahu argues that a ballot would lend legitimacy to the "disengagement plan" and weaken claims by the settlers and the far right that Mr Sharon is acting undemocratically by ignoring a poll within his Likud party that rejected the pullout.
Mr Netanyahu said that without a vote there could be an "explosion" of resistance by the settlers and their supporters. But the prime minister accused him of siding with the settlers.
"The real intention is to delay implementation," said Mr Sharon. "If a minister thinks that we are facing an explosion, he needs to act with all his might to make sure that there is no explosion, so that no one might even contemplate that by means of threats of explosion a cabinet decision can be changed. Instead of stamping a seal of approval on those threats and capitulating to them, I would expect from him and the other ministers to express in the strongest terms possible their opposition to threats."
The police said they were investigating death threats against Mr Sharon and officials responsible for implementing disengagement.
Jerusalem's chief of police, Ilan Franco, said: "We have opened an intensive investigation regarding threats that have been received in recent days. The threats were to murder the prime minister and officials in the administration."
The Israeli news service, YNet, quoted officials from the Shin Bet security service as saying they feared for Mr Sharon's safety and "would prefer for the prime minister to avoid leaving his office".
· Masked gunmen shot dead an accused rapist on his way to court in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday.
The shooting marked the second fatal attack in less than two months on detainees in the custody of Palestinian security forces.
Palestinians have faced internal strife recently, stirred by militants complaining of corruption in the Palestinian security forces. The gunmen attacked the car in which Ramy Yaghmour and other detainees were travelling from the Palestinian special forces headquarters.
Meanwhile:
IOF’s military operation in North Gaza entered its 16th day today, 14 October 2004. According to Al Mezan’s fieldworkers, 129 Palestinians have been killed and at least 421wounded from IOF fire. Among the deceased are 31 children. Moreover, IOF demolished 81 homes completely and hundreds of homes partially since 28 September 2004. They also leveled an area of 610 dunams of farmland, most of which in this area. IOF also destroyed numerous public facilities, including police and security posts, schools, mosques and kindergartens were damaged or destroyed.
IOF expanded their military action in the Gaza Strip under worsening humanitarian conditions. At dawn today, IOF carried out a new incursion in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. They also continued their siege and incursion in north Gaza area.
At 7:30pm yesterday, Wednesday 13 October 2004, IOF opened fire towards homes near the Education neighborhood in Beit Lahia. A 17-year-old girl, Athar Abu Ajeena, was wounded from a live bullet in the shoulder when she was at the entrance of her home. Several houses in the area were damaged.
At 9:35pm yesterday IOF launched a missile towards As Salatin neighborhood west of Beit Lahia killing 24-year-old Ramzi Ismail Abu Shaqfeh. Tanks opened machinegun fire towards homes in the same area damaging numerous homes.
At 12:05am today, IOF launched a missile towards Block (7) in Jabalia camp. Two Palestinians, 19-year-old Muhyi Ad Din Al Madhoun and 20-year-old Nidal Harb Masoud were killed. Several homes were also damaged in the attack.
IOF withdrew from parts of the town of Beit Lahia at 3am today. Al Mezan’s fieldworker, who visited these parts, reported that yesterday’s incursions left much damage to civilians’ property. Thirteen homes were demolished or damaged beyond repair, while dozens were damaged. Additionally, tanks and bulldozers damaged major parts of the infrastructure, including pavement, water and electricity networks. IOF also an area of approximately 100 dunams of land planted with strawberries and citrus fruit trees. Moreover, they destroyed 5 commercial stores, 5 motor vehicles and caused damaged to the agricultural cooperative and a mosque in the area.
At 5am today, IOF opened machinegun fire towards Tel Az Zaatar neighborhood in Jabalia. Tanks fired three shells at the neighborhood and damaged numerous homes.
At 6:20am today, IOF tanks fired a shell at a spot near the Beit Lahia Girls Preparatory School and the nearby Beit Lahia Youth Club. The school building and several homes were damaged. At 4:40 pm, tanks fired another three shells towards the same area and caused severe damage to the school, the club and the nearby mosque.
At approximately 1:45pm today, IOF opened fire towards the house of Yousif Abdul HadiAhmad in Qleebo neighborhood in Beit Lahia and destroyed one of its outside walls while seven people were inside it. They destroyed a water-well owned by the family before they occupied the house and detained its residents into one room. It is worth mentioning that IOF had demolished two houses owned by Ahmad’s sons in the same neighborhood a week earlier.
In the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, IOF stormed into Block (J) in the refugee camp at 9:45pm yesterday. Tanks fired shells towards the densely populated block killing an old man, 70-year-old Ismail Muhammad As Sawalha, and two adults. Medical sources informed Al Mezan’s fieldworker that the victims were 21-year-old Ahmad Salih Al Tahrawi and 23-year-oldAli Abdul Kareem Shaath and that they were disfigured from the shells. In addition, a 75 year-old woman, Khadra Shoman, was wounded from shrapnel in the head. Witnesses reported that the victims were killed inside their homes and while trying to escape from the area under the shelling. IOF withdrew from the area at 4:30 after they destroyed 35 homes, which were inhabited by 353 people.
IOF’s closure of the Gaza Strip continued today. Both of the beach road and Abu Holy checkpoint, in the middle of the Strip, were completely closed. IOF closed the Abu Holy checkpoint on 29 September 2004, and the beach road two days earlier dividing the strip into three segments. The humanitarian situation in the southern area of the strip has been deteriorating because the population there is dependent on Gaza City for supplies. Moreover, emergency cases, especially people who need to travel for health care, have been mounting in the different areas of the strip. New complaints were heard from farmers who have been banned from sending their products to the northern parts of the Gaza Strip, which suffers shortage of food. Schools and universities remained closed, or did not work as students and instructors could not reach them.
Palestinian, Israeli and international statements
Mr Sharon also rebuffed pressure from his finance minister and chief political rival, Binyamin Netanyahu, for a referendum on the withdrawal.
Mr Netanyahu argues that a ballot would lend legitimacy to the "disengagement plan" and weaken claims by the settlers and the far right that Mr Sharon is acting undemocratically by ignoring a poll within his Likud party that rejected the pullout.
Mr Netanyahu said that without a vote there could be an "explosion" of resistance by the settlers and their supporters. But the prime minister accused him of siding with the settlers.
"The real intention is to delay implementation," said Mr Sharon. "If a minister thinks that we are facing an explosion, he needs to act with all his might to make sure that there is no explosion, so that no one might even contemplate that by means of threats of explosion a cabinet decision can be changed. Instead of stamping a seal of approval on those threats and capitulating to them, I would expect from him and the other ministers to express in the strongest terms possible their opposition to threats."
The police said they were investigating death threats against Mr Sharon and officials responsible for implementing disengagement.
Jerusalem's chief of police, Ilan Franco, said: "We have opened an intensive investigation regarding threats that have been received in recent days. The threats were to murder the prime minister and officials in the administration."
The Israeli news service, YNet, quoted officials from the Shin Bet security service as saying they feared for Mr Sharon's safety and "would prefer for the prime minister to avoid leaving his office".
· Masked gunmen shot dead an accused rapist on his way to court in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday.
The shooting marked the second fatal attack in less than two months on detainees in the custody of Palestinian security forces.
Palestinians have faced internal strife recently, stirred by militants complaining of corruption in the Palestinian security forces. The gunmen attacked the car in which Ramy Yaghmour and other detainees were travelling from the Palestinian special forces headquarters.
Meanwhile:
IOF’s military operation in North Gaza entered its 16th day today, 14 October 2004. According to Al Mezan’s fieldworkers, 129 Palestinians have been killed and at least 421wounded from IOF fire. Among the deceased are 31 children. Moreover, IOF demolished 81 homes completely and hundreds of homes partially since 28 September 2004. They also leveled an area of 610 dunams of farmland, most of which in this area. IOF also destroyed numerous public facilities, including police and security posts, schools, mosques and kindergartens were damaged or destroyed.
IOF expanded their military action in the Gaza Strip under worsening humanitarian conditions. At dawn today, IOF carried out a new incursion in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. They also continued their siege and incursion in north Gaza area.
At 7:30pm yesterday, Wednesday 13 October 2004, IOF opened fire towards homes near the Education neighborhood in Beit Lahia. A 17-year-old girl, Athar Abu Ajeena, was wounded from a live bullet in the shoulder when she was at the entrance of her home. Several houses in the area were damaged.
At 9:35pm yesterday IOF launched a missile towards As Salatin neighborhood west of Beit Lahia killing 24-year-old Ramzi Ismail Abu Shaqfeh. Tanks opened machinegun fire towards homes in the same area damaging numerous homes.
At 12:05am today, IOF launched a missile towards Block (7) in Jabalia camp. Two Palestinians, 19-year-old Muhyi Ad Din Al Madhoun and 20-year-old Nidal Harb Masoud were killed. Several homes were also damaged in the attack.
IOF withdrew from parts of the town of Beit Lahia at 3am today. Al Mezan’s fieldworker, who visited these parts, reported that yesterday’s incursions left much damage to civilians’ property. Thirteen homes were demolished or damaged beyond repair, while dozens were damaged. Additionally, tanks and bulldozers damaged major parts of the infrastructure, including pavement, water and electricity networks. IOF also an area of approximately 100 dunams of land planted with strawberries and citrus fruit trees. Moreover, they destroyed 5 commercial stores, 5 motor vehicles and caused damaged to the agricultural cooperative and a mosque in the area.
At 5am today, IOF opened machinegun fire towards Tel Az Zaatar neighborhood in Jabalia. Tanks fired three shells at the neighborhood and damaged numerous homes.
At 6:20am today, IOF tanks fired a shell at a spot near the Beit Lahia Girls Preparatory School and the nearby Beit Lahia Youth Club. The school building and several homes were damaged. At 4:40 pm, tanks fired another three shells towards the same area and caused severe damage to the school, the club and the nearby mosque.
At approximately 1:45pm today, IOF opened fire towards the house of Yousif Abdul HadiAhmad in Qleebo neighborhood in Beit Lahia and destroyed one of its outside walls while seven people were inside it. They destroyed a water-well owned by the family before they occupied the house and detained its residents into one room. It is worth mentioning that IOF had demolished two houses owned by Ahmad’s sons in the same neighborhood a week earlier.
In the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, IOF stormed into Block (J) in the refugee camp at 9:45pm yesterday. Tanks fired shells towards the densely populated block killing an old man, 70-year-old Ismail Muhammad As Sawalha, and two adults. Medical sources informed Al Mezan’s fieldworker that the victims were 21-year-old Ahmad Salih Al Tahrawi and 23-year-oldAli Abdul Kareem Shaath and that they were disfigured from the shells. In addition, a 75 year-old woman, Khadra Shoman, was wounded from shrapnel in the head. Witnesses reported that the victims were killed inside their homes and while trying to escape from the area under the shelling. IOF withdrew from the area at 4:30 after they destroyed 35 homes, which were inhabited by 353 people.
IOF’s closure of the Gaza Strip continued today. Both of the beach road and Abu Holy checkpoint, in the middle of the Strip, were completely closed. IOF closed the Abu Holy checkpoint on 29 September 2004, and the beach road two days earlier dividing the strip into three segments. The humanitarian situation in the southern area of the strip has been deteriorating because the population there is dependent on Gaza City for supplies. Moreover, emergency cases, especially people who need to travel for health care, have been mounting in the different areas of the strip. New complaints were heard from farmers who have been banned from sending their products to the northern parts of the Gaza Strip, which suffers shortage of food. Schools and universities remained closed, or did not work as students and instructors could not reach them.
Palestinian, Israeli and international statements
- 19 Jun 2004
- Arafat recognises Jewish state and limit to return of refugees
- Yasser Arafat has told an Israeli newspaper that he recognises Israel's right to remain a Jewish state and is, therefore, prepared to accept the return of only a fraction of the Palestinian refugees.
- 28 Apr 2004
- 'The threat is an act of desperation'
- Press review: Sharon floats the idea of assassinating Arafat.
- 26 Apr 2004
- Ministers back Sharon on attacking Arafat
- Israeli government ministers yesterday repeated threats against the life of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, but said there were no plans to attack him in the near future.
24 apr 2004
Sharon: 'We may kill Arafat'
New threat from Israeli leader raises tension in Middle East.
Ariel Sharon issued an ominous warning last night that Yasser Arafat could be the next Palestinian leader to be in Israel's line of fire, when he reneged on a promise not to harm his old adversary. In dramatic remarks certain to aggravate regional hysteria over Israel's targeted killings of Palestinian militant leaders, the Israeli prime minister said he had told President George Bush that he was no longer prepared to exempt Mr Arafat from physical harm.
"I told the president the following. In our first meeting about three years ago, I accepted your request not to harm Arafat physically. I told him I understand the problems surrounding the situation, but I am released from that pledge."
Mr Sharon declined to elaborate and would not say how Mr Bush had responded. Last night the White House insisted that it was still opposed to Israel killing Mr Arafat.
"We have made it entirely clear to the Israeli government that we would oppose any such action, and have done so again in the wake of these remarks," a senior Bush administration official said. "We consider a pledge a pledge."
Mr Arafat responded by saying he took the threat seriously, but would stand his ground. "I am not afraid of Sharon's threats. He has a history of attempting to target me," he told an Israeli-Arab MP.
Mr Sharon had hinted at his change of policy in interviews earlier this month in which he warned that he might take unspecified action against Mr Arafat.
But yesterday's remarks were the strongest signal yet that Israel may follow up its recent assassinations in Gaza with the decapitation of the Palestinian leadership.
Mr Arafat, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, has been confined by Israeli security forces to his headquarters in Ramallah for two years.
After the recent strikes that killed the Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, Israel has widened the net and indicated that it will go after Hamas leaders abroad.
Its targeted killings have already included members of Mr Arafat's organisation Fatah and its affiliate the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which has been responsible for many of the suicide bombings against Israel.
Palestinian officials have expressed concern that Israel may attack Mr Arafat. Last night officials condemned Mr Sharon's "dangerous statements". Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an aide to Mr Arafat, said the remarks "could push the whole region into tremendous danger".
"We call upon the US administration to clarify its position on these statements and to bear its responsibility toward this escalation," he said.
Israel has always cited Mr Arafat as the main instigator of the second intifada, which began in October 2000. Since then more than 900 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians have been killed in the violence.
In 2002 Israeli forces twice besieged the Muqata, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. Since the first siege Mr Arafat has not left the few buildings that remain in the compound.
Israeli forces have destroyed most of the Muqata, confining Mr Arafat to a couple of small rooms.
After each suicide attack Israeli ministers call for Mr Arafat's assasination or expulsion but Mr Sharon has hitherto said he was bound by his pledge to Mr Bush.
Palestinian commentators have suggested that the assassinations of Yassin and Rantissi were "trial balloons" to gauge the reaction of the Palestinians and the international community to a possible assassination of Mr Arafat.
The absence of any retaliation from Hamas or other militant groups has convinced the government that it could kill Mr Arafat without significant repercussions, the commentators believe.
It is more likely that it will transfer Mr Arafat to Gaza, which Mr Sharon proposes to evacuate of Israelis by the end of next year. Some analysts said last night that Mr Sharon's thinly veiled threat could be a ruse to persuade more voters in his Likud party to back his plan to withdraw from Gaza in a referendum next month.
Any attempt to arrest Mr Arafat would be likely to end in a bloody shootout. He has said he will never be taken alive by Israel. He keeps a machine gun close to his desk.
On Monday Mr Arafat told 20 people to leave the compound because they could attract an Israeli attack. Israel claims the men were involved in planning attacks against Israel.
The Foreign Office condemned Mr Sharon's threat, saying: "Violent action would be wrong in principle, undermine the cause of peace and spark an outpouring of Palestinian anger that would do nothing to improve Israel security."
At his monthly press conference on Thursday the prime minister, Tony Blair, said: "I disagree with the policy of targeted assassinations and hope we can get to a different situation where we can move forward in the Middle East."
But he also deplored Hamas's "explicit endorsement" of terrorist strategies.
Ariel Sharon issued an ominous warning last night that Yasser Arafat could be the next Palestinian leader to be in Israel's line of fire, when he reneged on a promise not to harm his old adversary. In dramatic remarks certain to aggravate regional hysteria over Israel's targeted killings of Palestinian militant leaders, the Israeli prime minister said he had told President George Bush that he was no longer prepared to exempt Mr Arafat from physical harm.
"I told the president the following. In our first meeting about three years ago, I accepted your request not to harm Arafat physically. I told him I understand the problems surrounding the situation, but I am released from that pledge."
Mr Sharon declined to elaborate and would not say how Mr Bush had responded. Last night the White House insisted that it was still opposed to Israel killing Mr Arafat.
"We have made it entirely clear to the Israeli government that we would oppose any such action, and have done so again in the wake of these remarks," a senior Bush administration official said. "We consider a pledge a pledge."
Mr Arafat responded by saying he took the threat seriously, but would stand his ground. "I am not afraid of Sharon's threats. He has a history of attempting to target me," he told an Israeli-Arab MP.
Mr Sharon had hinted at his change of policy in interviews earlier this month in which he warned that he might take unspecified action against Mr Arafat.
But yesterday's remarks were the strongest signal yet that Israel may follow up its recent assassinations in Gaza with the decapitation of the Palestinian leadership.
Mr Arafat, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, has been confined by Israeli security forces to his headquarters in Ramallah for two years.
After the recent strikes that killed the Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, Israel has widened the net and indicated that it will go after Hamas leaders abroad.
Its targeted killings have already included members of Mr Arafat's organisation Fatah and its affiliate the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which has been responsible for many of the suicide bombings against Israel.
Palestinian officials have expressed concern that Israel may attack Mr Arafat. Last night officials condemned Mr Sharon's "dangerous statements". Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an aide to Mr Arafat, said the remarks "could push the whole region into tremendous danger".
"We call upon the US administration to clarify its position on these statements and to bear its responsibility toward this escalation," he said.
Israel has always cited Mr Arafat as the main instigator of the second intifada, which began in October 2000. Since then more than 900 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians have been killed in the violence.
In 2002 Israeli forces twice besieged the Muqata, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. Since the first siege Mr Arafat has not left the few buildings that remain in the compound.
Israeli forces have destroyed most of the Muqata, confining Mr Arafat to a couple of small rooms.
After each suicide attack Israeli ministers call for Mr Arafat's assasination or expulsion but Mr Sharon has hitherto said he was bound by his pledge to Mr Bush.
Palestinian commentators have suggested that the assassinations of Yassin and Rantissi were "trial balloons" to gauge the reaction of the Palestinians and the international community to a possible assassination of Mr Arafat.
The absence of any retaliation from Hamas or other militant groups has convinced the government that it could kill Mr Arafat without significant repercussions, the commentators believe.
It is more likely that it will transfer Mr Arafat to Gaza, which Mr Sharon proposes to evacuate of Israelis by the end of next year. Some analysts said last night that Mr Sharon's thinly veiled threat could be a ruse to persuade more voters in his Likud party to back his plan to withdraw from Gaza in a referendum next month.
Any attempt to arrest Mr Arafat would be likely to end in a bloody shootout. He has said he will never be taken alive by Israel. He keeps a machine gun close to his desk.
On Monday Mr Arafat told 20 people to leave the compound because they could attract an Israeli attack. Israel claims the men were involved in planning attacks against Israel.
The Foreign Office condemned Mr Sharon's threat, saying: "Violent action would be wrong in principle, undermine the cause of peace and spark an outpouring of Palestinian anger that would do nothing to improve Israel security."
At his monthly press conference on Thursday the prime minister, Tony Blair, said: "I disagree with the policy of targeted assassinations and hope we can get to a different situation where we can move forward in the Middle East."
But he also deplored Hamas's "explicit endorsement" of terrorist strategies.
2 apr 2004
Sharon threatens action against Arafat
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, has threatened to take action against Yasser Arafat in a series of interviews with the Israeli media to mark the Passover holiday. He said that Mr Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, could not remain in the same place for ever and that Israel might take action against him.
In recent weeks, Shin Bet, the Israeli secret service has been briefing journalists that two suicide attacks carried out in Jerusalem this year were organised by members of Mr Arafat's Fatah organisation who also had jobs in the Palestinian Authority police force.
Mr Arafat has been confined to cramped quarters in the PA's headquarters in Ramallah for almost two years.
His confinement started when the Israeli army invaded Ramallah and other Palestinian cities in Operation Defensive Shield, which began after a suicide bomber killed 29 Israelis at a meal for the first evening of Passover in 2001.
The interviews will be broadcast and published today. It is unclear what action Mr Sharon proposes to take.
He has said in the past that he regrets not killing Mr Arafat when he had the chance in Beirut in 1982. However, he has also given a guarantee to President Bush that he will not harm the Palestinian leader.
Some Palestinian commentators have seen the assasination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas, by Israel as an exercise to judge possible reaction to the arrest or assasination of Mr Arafat.
However, Mr Sharon's comments are more likely to be linked to his domestic difficulties and a desire to distract from them.
The Israeli attorney general is scrutinising a draft indictment of the prime minister charging him with corruption.
Mr Sharon's plan to evacuate Jewish settlements in Gaza is also under attack by ministers and members of his Likud party.
In recent weeks, Shin Bet, the Israeli secret service has been briefing journalists that two suicide attacks carried out in Jerusalem this year were organised by members of Mr Arafat's Fatah organisation who also had jobs in the Palestinian Authority police force.
Mr Arafat has been confined to cramped quarters in the PA's headquarters in Ramallah for almost two years.
His confinement started when the Israeli army invaded Ramallah and other Palestinian cities in Operation Defensive Shield, which began after a suicide bomber killed 29 Israelis at a meal for the first evening of Passover in 2001.
The interviews will be broadcast and published today. It is unclear what action Mr Sharon proposes to take.
He has said in the past that he regrets not killing Mr Arafat when he had the chance in Beirut in 1982. However, he has also given a guarantee to President Bush that he will not harm the Palestinian leader.
Some Palestinian commentators have seen the assasination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas, by Israel as an exercise to judge possible reaction to the arrest or assasination of Mr Arafat.
However, Mr Sharon's comments are more likely to be linked to his domestic difficulties and a desire to distract from them.
The Israeli attorney general is scrutinising a draft indictment of the prime minister charging him with corruption.
Mr Sharon's plan to evacuate Jewish settlements in Gaza is also under attack by ministers and members of his Likud party.
22 Mar 2004
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
Founder of Hamas seen as rival to Arafat as Palestinian leader.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
Founder of Hamas seen as rival to Arafat as Palestinian leader.
2 mrt 2004
Arafat confidante shot dead
Khalil al-Zaben 59
Gunmen shot and killed a well-known adviser to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City early today, Palestinian officials said. Khalil al-Zaben, 59, was hit by 12 bullets as he left his office in the Sabra neighbourhood of the city, the same sources said.
Mr Zaben was the best-known Palestinian to be killed in the internal violence and power struggles that have been growing recently in Gaza City.
In a recent incident at police headquarters, rival groups opened fire on each other after an armed man slapped the police chief. A policeman was killed in the exchange that followed.
That conflict involved Mr Arafat's forces and men loyal to one of his rivals, Mohammed Dahlan. Mr Arafat and Mr Dahlan met after the clash in an attempt to stop the violence.
There are concerns that with the weakening of Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority and a planned Israeli pullout from most of the Gaza Strip, a power vacuum might result with Islamic militant groups like Hamas anglingto fill it.
Mr Zaben published a weekly magazine devoted to Palestinian affairs and human rights.
He joined forces with Arafat in the 1960s and served in a number of capacities, including media adviser and personal secretary.
Mr Zaben returned to Gaza along with Arafat and other exiled Palestinian leaders in 1994, under terms of Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accords.
Two of his brothers are Palestinian ambassadors in South America, and his son works as an airline pilot there. He is also survived by his wife and three daughters.
Security officials said they did not know who carried out the killing.
Gunmen shot and killed a well-known adviser to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City early today, Palestinian officials said. Khalil al-Zaben, 59, was hit by 12 bullets as he left his office in the Sabra neighbourhood of the city, the same sources said.
Mr Zaben was the best-known Palestinian to be killed in the internal violence and power struggles that have been growing recently in Gaza City.
In a recent incident at police headquarters, rival groups opened fire on each other after an armed man slapped the police chief. A policeman was killed in the exchange that followed.
That conflict involved Mr Arafat's forces and men loyal to one of his rivals, Mohammed Dahlan. Mr Arafat and Mr Dahlan met after the clash in an attempt to stop the violence.
There are concerns that with the weakening of Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority and a planned Israeli pullout from most of the Gaza Strip, a power vacuum might result with Islamic militant groups like Hamas anglingto fill it.
Mr Zaben published a weekly magazine devoted to Palestinian affairs and human rights.
He joined forces with Arafat in the 1960s and served in a number of capacities, including media adviser and personal secretary.
Mr Zaben returned to Gaza along with Arafat and other exiled Palestinian leaders in 1994, under terms of Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accords.
Two of his brothers are Palestinian ambassadors in South America, and his son works as an airline pilot there. He is also survived by his wife and three daughters.
Security officials said they did not know who carried out the killing.
10 nov 2003
President Arafat: Israel Used Depleted Uranium to Suppress the Palestinian People
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat asserted that Israel used depleted uranium against the Palestinian people, which was evidently verified by American and European assertions as well as the cancer rate among Palestinians has risen similar to that caused in “Hiroshima”.
Arafat’s remarks came following his reception of a delegation involving Christian, Jewish and Muslim figures headed by Mitchell Koal on Sunday in his office in Rammallah.
Speaking to the delegation, President Arafat disclosed that the Apartheid Wall had confiscated 58% of the Palestinian lands in the West Bank, besides the disastrous economic consequences the wall caused; destroying farms, factories and turning the Palestinian cities into isolated cantons.
Arafat, who has been besieged in his battered compound in Ramallah for 19 months by Israel, pointed out that there are Israeli generals who refused to serve in the occupied Palestinian territories or participate in the criminal and wrong-doings committed there.
He added that the Israeli occupying forces perished 64-65% of the olive groves and stole 90% of the palm trees in Deir al Balah, over 4,762 Palestinian houses were demolished and the toll of killed and wounded people exceeded 71,000.
Grumbling about the Israeli movement restrictions, President Arafat mentioned that traveling between Ramallah and Bethlehem normally takes three hours but at present, travelers were obliged to wait long hours to cross the distance, not to mention that women in labor were denied access to pass through the checkpoints, and eventually they gave birth at the checkpoints.
“Where do such doings happen in the world?” President Arafat exclaimed.
Up to this moment, the Israeli government has not yet approved the "Road Map" peace process and conditioned about 14 amendments on the plan as well as the Israeli slam of all the agreed upon agreements including the Mitchell report, Tenet Understandings and the UN resolutions, President Arafat briefed the delegation.
“We (Palestinians) want an equitable and everlasting peace that was agreed upon with the late Yitzhak Rabin,” Arafat said.
Mr. Koal, on his part, asserted the backing of international and regional peace and dialogue and that the delegation came to solidify with the Palestinian people and to channel the Palestinian ordeal to Europe.
Arafat’s remarks came following his reception of a delegation involving Christian, Jewish and Muslim figures headed by Mitchell Koal on Sunday in his office in Rammallah.
Speaking to the delegation, President Arafat disclosed that the Apartheid Wall had confiscated 58% of the Palestinian lands in the West Bank, besides the disastrous economic consequences the wall caused; destroying farms, factories and turning the Palestinian cities into isolated cantons.
Arafat, who has been besieged in his battered compound in Ramallah for 19 months by Israel, pointed out that there are Israeli generals who refused to serve in the occupied Palestinian territories or participate in the criminal and wrong-doings committed there.
He added that the Israeli occupying forces perished 64-65% of the olive groves and stole 90% of the palm trees in Deir al Balah, over 4,762 Palestinian houses were demolished and the toll of killed and wounded people exceeded 71,000.
Grumbling about the Israeli movement restrictions, President Arafat mentioned that traveling between Ramallah and Bethlehem normally takes three hours but at present, travelers were obliged to wait long hours to cross the distance, not to mention that women in labor were denied access to pass through the checkpoints, and eventually they gave birth at the checkpoints.
“Where do such doings happen in the world?” President Arafat exclaimed.
Up to this moment, the Israeli government has not yet approved the "Road Map" peace process and conditioned about 14 amendments on the plan as well as the Israeli slam of all the agreed upon agreements including the Mitchell report, Tenet Understandings and the UN resolutions, President Arafat briefed the delegation.
“We (Palestinians) want an equitable and everlasting peace that was agreed upon with the late Yitzhak Rabin,” Arafat said.
Mr. Koal, on his part, asserted the backing of international and regional peace and dialogue and that the delegation came to solidify with the Palestinian people and to channel the Palestinian ordeal to Europe.
- 21 Oct 2003
- Israeli jets kill 10 in wave of attacks on Gaza
- Refugee camp hit hardest in five attacks, with 75 injured and seven killed
· Israeli PM repeats vow to remove Arafat
19 oct 2003
Plan to exile or kill Arafat abandoned
Ariel Sharon says he has abandoned a threat made by his cabinet barely a month ago to exile or even kill Yasser Arafat. The Israeli prime minister told the Jerusalem Post that attempting to deport the Palestinian president was not a realistic option.
"Our calculations for years have been that expelling him would not be good for Israel," Mr Sharon said. "The likelihood of expelling him without harming him is low, not only because of his security guards, but because he would be surrounded by a human chain of Israelis. The opinion of our intelligence services is that expelling him would not be a good idea."
Asked if that meant there could not be peace before Mr Arafat dies, he said: "I didn't say dead, but in my opinion, as long as he is in control, the chance for progress is nonexistent."
The Post did not ask him why the threat to "remove" Mr Arafat had been made in the first place. But Mr Sharon's retreat will reinforce the growing perception among Israeli voters that the prime minister is floundering. Opinion polls show falling support for Mr Sharon and his militarist tactics.
Asked about the family member of a victim of the recent Haifa suicide bomb who is demanding to know where Mr Sharon is leading Israel, he said: "There have been more difficult times."
"Our calculations for years have been that expelling him would not be good for Israel," Mr Sharon said. "The likelihood of expelling him without harming him is low, not only because of his security guards, but because he would be surrounded by a human chain of Israelis. The opinion of our intelligence services is that expelling him would not be a good idea."
Asked if that meant there could not be peace before Mr Arafat dies, he said: "I didn't say dead, but in my opinion, as long as he is in control, the chance for progress is nonexistent."
The Post did not ask him why the threat to "remove" Mr Arafat had been made in the first place. But Mr Sharon's retreat will reinforce the growing perception among Israeli voters that the prime minister is floundering. Opinion polls show falling support for Mr Sharon and his militarist tactics.
Asked about the family member of a victim of the recent Haifa suicide bomb who is demanding to know where Mr Sharon is leading Israel, he said: "There have been more difficult times."
-
20 sept 2003
'Israel's aggression has made him a hero'
Press review: Should Israel take action against Yasser Arafat? - 17 Sep 2003
- US vetoes UN call to protect Arafat
- The United States last night vetoed a United Nations resolution demanding that Israel neither harm nor expel the Palestinian authority president, Yasser Arafat.
16 sept 2003
Yasser Arafat
Ehud Olmert
The Israeli deputy prime minister, Ehud Olmert, admitted on Sunday that his government has not ruled out assassinating Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority. "His expulsion is an option, his liquidation is another option. It is also possible to confine him to prison-like conditions," he told Radio Israel. Haaretz, the left-leaning Israeli daily, said that the government's attitude toward Mr Arafat - there were also calls last week from within the cabinet for Mr Arafat to be exiled - was "sheer stupidity". The paper said: "Even if it is only arrogant boasting, the resulting damage is considerable. And if the talk is genuine, the results could be much worse."
That view, however, was not shared by the Jerusalem Post. In a leader following Tuesday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem, which killed 15, it had called for Mr Arafat, as well as the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to be killed. "We must kill [him], because the world leaves us no alternative," said the Post, which argued such killings would not radicalise the Arab world: "The current jihad against us is being fuelled by the perception that Israel is blocked from taking decisive action to defend itself."
The Arab press said that was an incorrect assumption. "A move against Mr Arafat would lock all concerned in a blind alley. On one side would be Israeli violence backed by American diplomatic and financial muscle; on the other, legions of men willing to commit suicide so long as they take a few others with them," warned Lebanon's Daily Star. "In the middle would sit millions of innocent Palestinians ... And the people from across the Islamic world would have no choice but to follow the Israeli example and take off the proverbial gloves. The dreaded 'clash of civilisations' would be one lengthy step closer."
Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, was quick to admonish the Israeli government. Washington supported neither the assassination nor exile of Mr Arafat, he said. But the Star was not convinced. "Previous 'advice' from President George Bush and his team has been blithely ignored by [Israel] ... Why should this instance be different?" it asked.
That being the case, agreed the Riyadh Daily, the United Nations could no longer stand idly by. "The UN ... needs to step in forthwith to protect the Palestinian president. The long-felt need for an international force in the occupied lands has perhaps never been felt as much as now."
The Israeli deputy prime minister, Ehud Olmert, admitted on Sunday that his government has not ruled out assassinating Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority. "His expulsion is an option, his liquidation is another option. It is also possible to confine him to prison-like conditions," he told Radio Israel. Haaretz, the left-leaning Israeli daily, said that the government's attitude toward Mr Arafat - there were also calls last week from within the cabinet for Mr Arafat to be exiled - was "sheer stupidity". The paper said: "Even if it is only arrogant boasting, the resulting damage is considerable. And if the talk is genuine, the results could be much worse."
That view, however, was not shared by the Jerusalem Post. In a leader following Tuesday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem, which killed 15, it had called for Mr Arafat, as well as the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to be killed. "We must kill [him], because the world leaves us no alternative," said the Post, which argued such killings would not radicalise the Arab world: "The current jihad against us is being fuelled by the perception that Israel is blocked from taking decisive action to defend itself."
The Arab press said that was an incorrect assumption. "A move against Mr Arafat would lock all concerned in a blind alley. On one side would be Israeli violence backed by American diplomatic and financial muscle; on the other, legions of men willing to commit suicide so long as they take a few others with them," warned Lebanon's Daily Star. "In the middle would sit millions of innocent Palestinians ... And the people from across the Islamic world would have no choice but to follow the Israeli example and take off the proverbial gloves. The dreaded 'clash of civilisations' would be one lengthy step closer."
Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, was quick to admonish the Israeli government. Washington supported neither the assassination nor exile of Mr Arafat, he said. But the Star was not convinced. "Previous 'advice' from President George Bush and his team has been blithely ignored by [Israel] ... Why should this instance be different?" it asked.
That being the case, agreed the Riyadh Daily, the United Nations could no longer stand idly by. "The UN ... needs to step in forthwith to protect the Palestinian president. The long-felt need for an international force in the occupied lands has perhaps never been felt as much as now."
15 sept 2003
Israel may kill Arafat, deputy PM says
The Israeli government is considering killing Yasser Arafat as one of the means to carry out its threat to "remove" him as an obstacle to peace, Israel's deputy prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said yesterday. The statement was immediately denounced by the Palestinian leadership, which said it was the thinking of the mafia, not a government.
It also reinforced unusual questioning of the security strategy of the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, from within the country's political establishment, amid a growing belief that his insistence on a military solution to the conflict is costing Israeli lives.
At the weekend, Shimon Peres, the former prime minister and present leader of the opposition Labour party, broke a long silence on criticising the government's security policies by warning Mr Sharon that the decision to "remove" Mr Arafat by exiling him, or any other method, would help the militant Islamist movement Hamas.
"This government has destroyed the peace process," Mr Peres said on the 10th anniversary of the Oslo accords that won him a Nobel prize.
Mr Olmert told Israel radio that the cabinet's decision to remove Mr Arafat could be viewed in the same manner as Mr Sharon's pledge to wipe out the leadership of Hamas.
"Killing is definitely one of the options," he said. "We are trying to eliminate all the heads of terror, and Arafat is one of the heads of terror."
The statement was immedi ately condemned by the Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat. "This is the thinking of the mafia," he said.
The Palestinian leadership has found unusual backing on the issue from within the Israeli political mainstream, which has until now shied away from drawing a link between Mr Sharon's security policies and terrorist attacks.
But Labour's doubts turned to anger when Mr Sharon was seen to undermine a seven-week ceasefire by the continued killing of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. The truce brought a lull in the suicide bombings, but the army's resumption of "targeted killings" provoked what the two groups said were retaliatory suicide bombings that left more than 30 people dead.
The chairwoman of the Labour faction in parliament, Dalia Itzik, told a party meeting chaired by Mr Peres at the weekend that Mr Sharon was sacrificing Israeli lives. "The prime minister has failed completely and must resign."
The leftwing Meretz party also condemned the threat to Mr Arafat as endangering Jewish lives and strengthening Hamas. "If you deport Arafat you leave the ground only for Hamas," it said. "That's not something the government is doing out of stupidity. It's a strategy to keep things as they are, to prevent the solution of two states."
The mainstream press has been unusually critical, describing the move as evidence of a "bankrupt policy".
It also reinforced unusual questioning of the security strategy of the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, from within the country's political establishment, amid a growing belief that his insistence on a military solution to the conflict is costing Israeli lives.
At the weekend, Shimon Peres, the former prime minister and present leader of the opposition Labour party, broke a long silence on criticising the government's security policies by warning Mr Sharon that the decision to "remove" Mr Arafat by exiling him, or any other method, would help the militant Islamist movement Hamas.
"This government has destroyed the peace process," Mr Peres said on the 10th anniversary of the Oslo accords that won him a Nobel prize.
Mr Olmert told Israel radio that the cabinet's decision to remove Mr Arafat could be viewed in the same manner as Mr Sharon's pledge to wipe out the leadership of Hamas.
"Killing is definitely one of the options," he said. "We are trying to eliminate all the heads of terror, and Arafat is one of the heads of terror."
The statement was immedi ately condemned by the Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat. "This is the thinking of the mafia," he said.
The Palestinian leadership has found unusual backing on the issue from within the Israeli political mainstream, which has until now shied away from drawing a link between Mr Sharon's security policies and terrorist attacks.
But Labour's doubts turned to anger when Mr Sharon was seen to undermine a seven-week ceasefire by the continued killing of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. The truce brought a lull in the suicide bombings, but the army's resumption of "targeted killings" provoked what the two groups said were retaliatory suicide bombings that left more than 30 people dead.
The chairwoman of the Labour faction in parliament, Dalia Itzik, told a party meeting chaired by Mr Peres at the weekend that Mr Sharon was sacrificing Israeli lives. "The prime minister has failed completely and must resign."
The leftwing Meretz party also condemned the threat to Mr Arafat as endangering Jewish lives and strengthening Hamas. "If you deport Arafat you leave the ground only for Hamas," it said. "That's not something the government is doing out of stupidity. It's a strategy to keep things as they are, to prevent the solution of two states."
The mainstream press has been unusually critical, describing the move as evidence of a "bankrupt policy".
12 Sep 2003
- Israeli threat to expel Arafat denounced
- The Arab League today said that Israel was declaring "war" on Middle East diplomacy by threatening to expel the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.
- Sharon's deal for Palestine: no extra land, no army, no Arafat
- Ariel Sharon has laid out his terms for Palestinian independence with a vision of an emasculated and demilitarised state built on less than half the land of the occupied territories, and without Yasser Arafat as its leader.
- Israeli tanks attack Arafat's HQ
- Reprisals follow bus blast
- Sharon cancels visit to US
- Damage to Arafat's bedroom
- 7 May 2002
- US tells Sharon: Arafat is leader, now negotiate
- President George Bush is expected to tell the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, today that he must accept Yasser Arafat as the legitimate Palestinian leader, despite Israel's claims to have proof of his involvement in terrorism.
Assassinations by Israel
April
Marwan Zalum 59 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 22 Apr 2002 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in his car.
Samir Abu Rajub Resident of Hebron, killed on 22 Apr 2002 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in a car.
Ashraf Daraghmeh 29 year-old, resident of Tubas, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Majdi Balasmeh 26 year-old, resident of Deir Sharaf, Nablus district, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Muhammad Kmeil 28 year-old, resident of Qabatiya, Jenin district, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Munqez Suaftah 29 year-old, resident of Tubas, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Qeys 'Adwan 25 year-old, resident of Tubas, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Saed 'Awwad 25 year-old, resident of Tubas, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield."
Marwan Zalum 59 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 22 Apr 2002 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in his car.
Samir Abu Rajub Resident of Hebron, killed on 22 Apr 2002 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in a car.
Ashraf Daraghmeh 29 year-old, resident of Tubas, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Majdi Balasmeh 26 year-old, resident of Deir Sharaf, Nablus district, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Muhammad Kmeil 28 year-old, resident of Qabatiya, Jenin district, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Munqez Suaftah 29 year-old, resident of Tubas, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Qeys 'Adwan 25 year-old, resident of Tubas, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield.".
Saed 'Awwad 25 year-old, resident of Tubas, killed on 05 Apr 2002 next to Tubas, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in a special forces operation during "Operation Defensive Shield."
-
16 Apr 2002
Desperate Powell to meet Arafat - The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, is scheduled to meet the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, in Ramallah again today in a last-ditch attempt to prevent his Middle East mission ending in fiasco.
- 15 Apr 2002
- Israel 'captures top Arafat aide'
- A Palestinian security chief warned of "catastrophes" for Israel if it harmed or humiliated a West Bank leader arrested today in Ramallah.
Powell: Arafat need not attend peace conference - On his return to Israel from meetings in Lebanon and Syria today, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said that the presence of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, was not a prerequisite for a proposed international Middle East peace conference.
Tongue-tied in Arafat's shattered bunker - Colin Powell's mission to stop the fighting seems bound to fail.
- 14 Apr 2002
- Arafat's terror statement
- Extracts from Yasser Arafat's statement that condemned terrorism yesterday.
Hopes rise as Arafat condemns terrorists - Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, bowed last night to American demands to him to condemn terrorism, in a dramatic move that raised hopes of a breakthrough in the Middle East.
- 13 Apr 2002
- All smiles for Sharon as US turns the heat on Arafat
- US secretary of state Colin Powell's peace mission in the Middle East appeared to stumble at the first hurdle yesterday when US officials postponed today's planned meeting with Yasser Arafat at least until tomorrow after a suicide bomb attack which killed six people.
Sharon tries to destroy all traces of Arafat rule
Two monuments to destruction awaited Palestinians when Ramallah briefly came to life yesterday during the relaxation of the Israeli army curfew: the wrecked compound of Yasser Arafat, and the battle-ravaged headquarters of a powerful security commander.
Onslaught continues as Arafat meets US envoy - Yasser Arafat's isolation amid the ruin of his headquarters ended yesterday a week after it began with a visit from America's envoy. But the minor diplomatic coup was offset by Israel's relentless assault on the Palestinian towns of the West Bank.
4 Apr 2002
Israel blocks EU meeting with Arafat - The Israeli government today blocked plans by a high-level EU delegation to meet the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, who is besieged by Israeli forces.
- 3 Apr 2002
Sharon tells Arafat: You're free to go but you're never coming back
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, stepped up the public humiliation of Yasser Arafat yesterday by offering him a "one-way ticket" into exile.
2 Apr 2002
The informer: Sharon proposes exile for Arafat
In today's Informer: Sharon proposes exile for Arafat, BBC deluged by complaints about coverage of Queen Mother's death, and chief suspect snubs Rwandan genocide trial
Arafat and Sharon should resign, says EU officia
EU official calls for new leadership
Sharon says Arafat should go into exile
Gun battles rage across West Bank towns
US diplomatic staff to leave Jerusalem
1 Apr 2002
Hungry, cold and besieged, Arafat defies Israel in the ruins of his empire
Yesterday afternoon brought a brief, but surreal, reprieve when anti-globalisation and peace activists waved white flags, and marched past bewildered Israeli soldiers into the squat two-storey building that marks the last redoubt of Mr Arafat's vanished domain.
31 mrt 2002
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To Jenin... with love from Israel !!!
Warning... This video is unsuitable for children ! Do we really have to keep on going the way we are, until some idiots start 'nuking everyone' ??? I fully appreciate that Israel has a right to defend itself... but this is ridiculous !!! What you see in this video, is Israel's response to a 'Suicide Bombing' which killed 30 Israelis during the year 2002. It is unclear exactly how many Palestinians 'died' as a result of this carnage... however, at least 50 were believed to have been killed, and hundreds more were reported as 'missing'. |
It perhaps warrants mention that when the Israeli Army finally withdrew from Jenin, they set up a Blockade, and refused access to Humanitarian Aid.
This action alone, in preventing Medical Aid from reaching injured Palestinians, would have contributed toward the death toll !
The United Nations announced it would conduct an Investigation to determine whether Israel had 'massacred civilians' in Jenin... however, the Investigation was prevented from taking place, following intervention by the United States in the Security Council.
To quote Shimon Peres...
"The problem with Jenin was that the pictures made it look worse than it actually was !"
Well excuse me, Mr Peres... but what the heck do you expect things to look like, when your tanks and thugs are set upon a Palestinian City ???
To quote Ariel Sharon
"I don't think that any nation in the world has the right to bring the Israeli citizens and the State of Israel to court !"
To be perfectly honest with you, Mr Sharon... I don't particularly care what you think !
It is my belief that this and all other 'Israeli Atrocities against the Palestinian People' must be investigated... and every effort must be made to ensure that such disgraceful actions are prevented from occurring in the future !
Whilst respecting Israel's right to defend itself... such action must be done in a manner which is proportionate to the threat. A line needs to be drawn which differentiates 'self-defence' from 'murder'... and it is my belief that Israel has far too often crossed the line where its actions could no longer be deemed as 'self-defence' !!!
As a citizen of the International Community, I call upon the United Nations Organisation to conduct a thorough Investigation of all reported Israeli Atrocities against her neighbours... and in order to prevent the United States from blocking such investigation... I also call on the United Nations Organisation to conduct a thorough Investigation of America's role in the 'War on Terror' (particularly in relation to the extremely high number of Civilian Casualties in Iraq).
I ask that the United States be 'Suspended from the United Nations Security Council' until Investigations have been completed.
Justification for 'America's Suspension from the Security Council' can be found in the 'Charter of the United Nations' which states as follows:
"The Purposes of the United Nations are:
1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;"
"Article 2:
The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.
3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."
The 'Invasion of Iraq'... against the wishes of the United Nations Security Council... was clearly in breach of the above requirements... and in view of the manner in which the Iraqi People have suffered as the result of such action... 'Suspension from the Security Council' is deemed to be fully justifiable !
I call on the International Community to support my call for such Investigations to be conducted... as it is my belief that in order to ensure an end to the (so called) 'War on Terror' we need to focus our attention on the true source of the problem !!!
Music in this video is an extended remix of the John Farnham song... Help !
Images used in the video are from the following website...
http://this.is/jenin/photo_0.html
This action alone, in preventing Medical Aid from reaching injured Palestinians, would have contributed toward the death toll !
The United Nations announced it would conduct an Investigation to determine whether Israel had 'massacred civilians' in Jenin... however, the Investigation was prevented from taking place, following intervention by the United States in the Security Council.
To quote Shimon Peres...
"The problem with Jenin was that the pictures made it look worse than it actually was !"
Well excuse me, Mr Peres... but what the heck do you expect things to look like, when your tanks and thugs are set upon a Palestinian City ???
To quote Ariel Sharon
"I don't think that any nation in the world has the right to bring the Israeli citizens and the State of Israel to court !"
To be perfectly honest with you, Mr Sharon... I don't particularly care what you think !
It is my belief that this and all other 'Israeli Atrocities against the Palestinian People' must be investigated... and every effort must be made to ensure that such disgraceful actions are prevented from occurring in the future !
Whilst respecting Israel's right to defend itself... such action must be done in a manner which is proportionate to the threat. A line needs to be drawn which differentiates 'self-defence' from 'murder'... and it is my belief that Israel has far too often crossed the line where its actions could no longer be deemed as 'self-defence' !!!
As a citizen of the International Community, I call upon the United Nations Organisation to conduct a thorough Investigation of all reported Israeli Atrocities against her neighbours... and in order to prevent the United States from blocking such investigation... I also call on the United Nations Organisation to conduct a thorough Investigation of America's role in the 'War on Terror' (particularly in relation to the extremely high number of Civilian Casualties in Iraq).
I ask that the United States be 'Suspended from the United Nations Security Council' until Investigations have been completed.
Justification for 'America's Suspension from the Security Council' can be found in the 'Charter of the United Nations' which states as follows:
"The Purposes of the United Nations are:
1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;"
"Article 2:
The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.
3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."
The 'Invasion of Iraq'... against the wishes of the United Nations Security Council... was clearly in breach of the above requirements... and in view of the manner in which the Iraqi People have suffered as the result of such action... 'Suspension from the Security Council' is deemed to be fully justifiable !
I call on the International Community to support my call for such Investigations to be conducted... as it is my belief that in order to ensure an end to the (so called) 'War on Terror' we need to focus our attention on the true source of the problem !!!
Music in this video is an extended remix of the John Farnham song... Help !
Images used in the video are from the following website...
http://this.is/jenin/photo_0.html
Without mercy: Israelis execute Arafat's elite guards
The ambulancemen were carrying the first body out of the Cairo-Amman bank in the centre of Ramallah when I came across them. His knees were doubled up in rigor mortis.
One of the legs of his green parachute jumpsuit had been burned through to the skin by a round fired at such close quarters that the muzzle flash had ignited the fabric. A gaping wound was visible in his chest - also apparently from a burst of fire from close range. What killed him, however, was the gunshot to his temple.
A few minutes later, the paramedics brought the second body, that of a young man, also in Yasser Arafat's elite guard unit, Force 17.
Someone had taken off his boots, revealing his blue socks. The wounds that he had obviously been clutching when he died were also to his upper body. But what must have killed him, like his colleague, was a shot fired at close range to his temple that had demolished the back of his head.
The third body was of an older man, in his forties, grey-haired with a moustache. Someone had pulled his parachute suit above his head to hide the wound. When the stretcher-bearers put him down, the covering was pulled back. The wound was to the head.
What happened on the third floor of the Cairo-Amman bank at midnight on Friday during Israel's occupation of the Palestinian city of Ramallah can only be surmised. But in the few minutes after Israeli soldiers stormed the Palestinian position, five men were wounded and five men were put to death by the Israelis, each with a single coup de grace administered to the head or throat.
Maher Shalabi, bureau chief of Abu Dhabi television in Ramallah, was in his office in the same building when he heard several bursts of heavy shooting on the floors below. 'I heard heavy shooting; maybe it was an exchange of fire. But I believe this was an execution.'
Hassan Asfour, a senior Palestinian negotiator, added: 'They were executed in cold blood. This is a clear example of the collective execution policy adopted by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.'
According to local residents, the dead men were part of a large group of Palestinian policemen who had taken shelter in the building, which also houses the offices of the British council, when the Israeli army entered Ramallah.
The men had taken shelter in the foyer area on the third floor next to a dentist's surgery. Yesterday bullet holes spattered the walls and the floor was flecked with blood. On one wall were large splashes of blood. Elsewhere several bloody trails had been marked along the floor where someone had pulled the bodies towards the lift.
An Israeli army spokesman said soldiers entered the building after Palestinians opened fire from inside and threw a grenade at the force outside.
The coups des graces administered for these five men are a metaphor for what the Israeli incursion is hoping to achieve inside Ramallah. By isolating Arafat within his headquarters, Sharon hopes to decapitate the Palestinian Authority.
Yesterday, inside Arafat's compound, it was clear that, for all the claims of Ariel Sharon, Arafat was neither under threat nor under arrest. Arafat, simply, was surrounded by the Israelis.
As we approached the compound we could see the tanks and armoured personnel carriers ringing his sprawl of offices and barracks. On every side were soldiers taking positions and aiming their weapons.
Approaching closer the Israeli army tried to prevent us following a delegation from the Palestinian solidarity movement into the compound, led by José Bové, the French farmers leader and anti-globalisation protester.
In a surreal touch Bové and his colleagues had marched through the ruins of the town, even as fighting continued. With hands above their heads, and carrying palm fronds as Easter symbols of peace, they approached Arafat's compound with two columns of heavily armed Israeli infantry jogging the last few hundred metres behind.
Seeing Bové, who had marched through the town with a small group of fellow protesters bearing a tray of medicines for those still injured inside Arafat's compound, the soldiers relented and let us enter with him and approach the offices where Arafat was holed up.
Crossing a large car park we could see a three-storey block, its walls splattered with tank fire, two windows blackened by fire with sheets hanging where the occupants had tried to escape the flames.
I followed Bové to the entrance to the offices where Arafat was hiding but was grabbed from behind by an Israeli soldier and pulled away. Arafat may not be a prisoner but it is the Israelis who choose who goes to see the Palestinian chairman.
On every corner yesterday stood Israeli tanks. The devastation that these tanks have wrought inside the Palestinians' most attractive city has to be seen to be believed.
Roads have been dynamited or torn up by tanks. Buildings are burned and shattered. Everywhere there is rubble, spent ammunition and broken glass.
A little later, I met Hossam Sharkawi and Mohamed Awad, two senior officials in the Palestinian Red Crescent who I had met before.
Sharkawi, a co-ordinator for emergency services, told me the Israelis had arrested five of his drivers.
'They have them blindfolded and handcuffed. I cannot understand what the Israelis are thinking. They also used one of our ambulances today as a human shield. They sandwiched it inside a convoy.'
Sharkawi was able to reveal something of life inside Arafat's compound. 'We know there are injured inside,' he said. 'But they have been blocking ambulances entering to give treatment.' How many injured he could not say.
'All that we hear is that there may be between 50 and 100 people trapped with Arafat inside the building, without food, or water or any electricity and no telephone communication.' He shook his head and walked away.
Arafat siege continues
One of the legs of his green parachute jumpsuit had been burned through to the skin by a round fired at such close quarters that the muzzle flash had ignited the fabric. A gaping wound was visible in his chest - also apparently from a burst of fire from close range. What killed him, however, was the gunshot to his temple.
A few minutes later, the paramedics brought the second body, that of a young man, also in Yasser Arafat's elite guard unit, Force 17.
Someone had taken off his boots, revealing his blue socks. The wounds that he had obviously been clutching when he died were also to his upper body. But what must have killed him, like his colleague, was a shot fired at close range to his temple that had demolished the back of his head.
The third body was of an older man, in his forties, grey-haired with a moustache. Someone had pulled his parachute suit above his head to hide the wound. When the stretcher-bearers put him down, the covering was pulled back. The wound was to the head.
What happened on the third floor of the Cairo-Amman bank at midnight on Friday during Israel's occupation of the Palestinian city of Ramallah can only be surmised. But in the few minutes after Israeli soldiers stormed the Palestinian position, five men were wounded and five men were put to death by the Israelis, each with a single coup de grace administered to the head or throat.
Maher Shalabi, bureau chief of Abu Dhabi television in Ramallah, was in his office in the same building when he heard several bursts of heavy shooting on the floors below. 'I heard heavy shooting; maybe it was an exchange of fire. But I believe this was an execution.'
Hassan Asfour, a senior Palestinian negotiator, added: 'They were executed in cold blood. This is a clear example of the collective execution policy adopted by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.'
According to local residents, the dead men were part of a large group of Palestinian policemen who had taken shelter in the building, which also houses the offices of the British council, when the Israeli army entered Ramallah.
The men had taken shelter in the foyer area on the third floor next to a dentist's surgery. Yesterday bullet holes spattered the walls and the floor was flecked with blood. On one wall were large splashes of blood. Elsewhere several bloody trails had been marked along the floor where someone had pulled the bodies towards the lift.
An Israeli army spokesman said soldiers entered the building after Palestinians opened fire from inside and threw a grenade at the force outside.
The coups des graces administered for these five men are a metaphor for what the Israeli incursion is hoping to achieve inside Ramallah. By isolating Arafat within his headquarters, Sharon hopes to decapitate the Palestinian Authority.
Yesterday, inside Arafat's compound, it was clear that, for all the claims of Ariel Sharon, Arafat was neither under threat nor under arrest. Arafat, simply, was surrounded by the Israelis.
As we approached the compound we could see the tanks and armoured personnel carriers ringing his sprawl of offices and barracks. On every side were soldiers taking positions and aiming their weapons.
Approaching closer the Israeli army tried to prevent us following a delegation from the Palestinian solidarity movement into the compound, led by José Bové, the French farmers leader and anti-globalisation protester.
In a surreal touch Bové and his colleagues had marched through the ruins of the town, even as fighting continued. With hands above their heads, and carrying palm fronds as Easter symbols of peace, they approached Arafat's compound with two columns of heavily armed Israeli infantry jogging the last few hundred metres behind.
Seeing Bové, who had marched through the town with a small group of fellow protesters bearing a tray of medicines for those still injured inside Arafat's compound, the soldiers relented and let us enter with him and approach the offices where Arafat was holed up.
Crossing a large car park we could see a three-storey block, its walls splattered with tank fire, two windows blackened by fire with sheets hanging where the occupants had tried to escape the flames.
I followed Bové to the entrance to the offices where Arafat was hiding but was grabbed from behind by an Israeli soldier and pulled away. Arafat may not be a prisoner but it is the Israelis who choose who goes to see the Palestinian chairman.
On every corner yesterday stood Israeli tanks. The devastation that these tanks have wrought inside the Palestinians' most attractive city has to be seen to be believed.
Roads have been dynamited or torn up by tanks. Buildings are burned and shattered. Everywhere there is rubble, spent ammunition and broken glass.
A little later, I met Hossam Sharkawi and Mohamed Awad, two senior officials in the Palestinian Red Crescent who I had met before.
Sharkawi, a co-ordinator for emergency services, told me the Israelis had arrested five of his drivers.
'They have them blindfolded and handcuffed. I cannot understand what the Israelis are thinking. They also used one of our ambulances today as a human shield. They sandwiched it inside a convoy.'
Sharkawi was able to reveal something of life inside Arafat's compound. 'We know there are injured inside,' he said. 'But they have been blocking ambulances entering to give treatment.' How many injured he could not say.
'All that we hear is that there may be between 50 and 100 people trapped with Arafat inside the building, without food, or water or any electricity and no telephone communication.' He shook his head and walked away.
Arafat siege continues
- Israeli troops today exchanged fire with guards at the office of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. Meanwhile two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than 40 in separate attacks in an Israeli port city and a Jewish West Bank settlement.
- 31 Mar 2002
- Arafat's last stand as Israel prepares to take stronghold
- Leader besieged: Fresh violence last night threatened disaster for the Palestinian chief.
- 30 Mar 2002
- Europe insists on Arafat's status as a legitimate authority
- As Israel declared Yasser Arafat an enemy and sent tanks crashing into his headquarters yesterday, Europe insisted that he was still a legitimate authority and a partner for peace.
Assassinations by Israel
March
- 'Atef Subhi Balbisi 25 year-old, resident of Anabta, Tulkarm district, killed on 14 Mar 2002 next to 'Anabta, Tulkarm district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing.
- Mu'atasem Mahmoud 'Abdallah Hammad 28 year-old, resident of Anabta, Tulkarm district, killed on 14 Mar 2002 next to 'Anabta, Tulkarm district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing
30 mrt 2002
Israel turns its fire on Arafat
· Soldiers and tanks attack Palestinian leader's HQ
· Israel calls up 20,000 reserve troops
· 18-year-old woman suicide bomber kills two
Israel launched a war to the finish against Yasser Arafat yesterday, smashing into his compound with tanks and bulldozers and strafing his offices with machine-gun fire, in a campaign of systematic destruction. By nightfall, Israeli tanks careered around Mr Arafat's helipad and parking lot in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Soldiers clambered through large craters into two buildings immediately adjacent to his official residence, storming into offices amid bursts of gunfire and stun grenades.
The Palestinian Authority, created eight years ago under the Oslo peace accords, was effectively dead. Mr Arafat, trapped in a basement room with his aides, declared that he would die before he surrendered.
"We are operating in the entire complex excluding the chairman's actual office and residence, said Major General Yitzhak Eitan, who heads the Israel army's central command.
He said at least 70 Palestinians had been captured from the compound, and that solders had occupied the headquarters of Palestinian intelligence, and a jail. Seven Palestinians were reported killed - including one of Mr Arafat's security guards, and a woman was shot dead in her car as she tried to flee from a surrounding area. One Israeli soldier was killed.
Yesterday's drastic assault was the first stage of what the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, said would be a "long and complicated war that knows no borders".
Emerging from an eight-hour cabinet meeting, he said the Palestinian leader was now Israel's avowed foe, and that he was ordering the call-up of 20,000 reservists for a final battle.
"Arafat, who has formed a coalition of terror against Israel, is an enemy and at this stage shall be isolated," Mr Sharon said, outlining Israel's punishment for the suicide bombing it considers the point of no return after 18 months of bloodshed. "We are going to take all the necessary measures to destroy the infra structure of every terror element that exists. We decided to eliminate the terror and its infrastructure."
He refused to spell out how far Israel would go to achieve its aims, and what it intended to do with Mr Arafat, who spent the night in a one-room bunker, cut off from the world when Israel severed phone and electricity lines.
However, other officials said they would not kill the Palestinian leader. "Do we intend to harm him? The answer is negative," said Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the defence minister.
The death toll in Wednesday night's suicide bombing rose to 22 yesterday, making it the deadliest attack on Israelis since the start of the Palestinan uprising. Its psychological impact was all the more devastating as the carnage arrived on the first night of Passover.
Despite the grave consequences of the attack, the Palestinian bombing campaign against Israeli civilians showed no sign of relenting. In Jerusalem, an 18-year-old teenager blew herself up in the entrance to a supermarket, killing two people.
At the holy site known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, Israeli riot police clashed with Palestinian stonethrowers.
Meanwhile, Israeli intelligence officials began hunting members of Mr Arafat's administration, including Sari Nusseibeh, the philosophy professor and peace activist who is the Palestinian leader's point man in Jerusalem.
However, the focus of yesterday's dramatic events was Ramallah, where the Palestinian leader said he was preparing for his death.
"God is great. Don't you know me by now? I am a martyr in the making," he told Abu Dhabi television, repeating three times: "May Allah honour me with martyrdom."
In another interview to al-Jazeera television, he said Israel plotted to do him physical harm. "They either want to kill me, capture me, or expel me," he said.
Later, he accused Washington of colluding with Israel's strategy, an impression that was given some credence by America's refusal to condemn the assault.
Amid the universal revulsion at the carnage in Netanya, Washington has an additional cause for anger: the attack destroyed the third ceasefire mission in four months by its envoy, General Anthony Zinni.
Although Israel's attack on Mr Arafat's headquarters threatens to derail a united Arab peace initiative that is just a day old, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, last night made it clear who America would blame. "Let's be clear about what brought it to a halt," he said. "Terrorism - terrorism that would target innocent civilians."
As the thud of tank shells and the rattle of machine-gun fire cut through the night, Palestinian officials feared Mr Arafat was in grave danger.
Others thought Mr Sharon was merely out to humiliate him in the eyes of his people so that he agrees to a ceasefire on Israel's terms.
"They are just sending a message to the Palestinian people," said a policeman. "They are saying: 'This is your leader. We can kill him. We can arrest him."
The tanks thundered towards Mr Arafat's compound at about 3am. As day broke, snipers took up positions on nearby rooftops, and the tanks and armoured personnel carriers began smashing through the walls of his compound, mangling gates and lamposts in their path.
By mid-afternoon, armoured bulldozers had gouged gaping craters into two buildings immediately adjacent to Mr Arafat's residence. Armoured personnel carriers pulled up in the forecourt and disgorged dozens of soldiers who poured into the buildings, funnelling out into various offices in a hunt for Palestinian gunmen.
· Israel calls up 20,000 reserve troops
· 18-year-old woman suicide bomber kills two
Israel launched a war to the finish against Yasser Arafat yesterday, smashing into his compound with tanks and bulldozers and strafing his offices with machine-gun fire, in a campaign of systematic destruction. By nightfall, Israeli tanks careered around Mr Arafat's helipad and parking lot in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Soldiers clambered through large craters into two buildings immediately adjacent to his official residence, storming into offices amid bursts of gunfire and stun grenades.
The Palestinian Authority, created eight years ago under the Oslo peace accords, was effectively dead. Mr Arafat, trapped in a basement room with his aides, declared that he would die before he surrendered.
"We are operating in the entire complex excluding the chairman's actual office and residence, said Major General Yitzhak Eitan, who heads the Israel army's central command.
He said at least 70 Palestinians had been captured from the compound, and that solders had occupied the headquarters of Palestinian intelligence, and a jail. Seven Palestinians were reported killed - including one of Mr Arafat's security guards, and a woman was shot dead in her car as she tried to flee from a surrounding area. One Israeli soldier was killed.
Yesterday's drastic assault was the first stage of what the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, said would be a "long and complicated war that knows no borders".
Emerging from an eight-hour cabinet meeting, he said the Palestinian leader was now Israel's avowed foe, and that he was ordering the call-up of 20,000 reservists for a final battle.
"Arafat, who has formed a coalition of terror against Israel, is an enemy and at this stage shall be isolated," Mr Sharon said, outlining Israel's punishment for the suicide bombing it considers the point of no return after 18 months of bloodshed. "We are going to take all the necessary measures to destroy the infra structure of every terror element that exists. We decided to eliminate the terror and its infrastructure."
He refused to spell out how far Israel would go to achieve its aims, and what it intended to do with Mr Arafat, who spent the night in a one-room bunker, cut off from the world when Israel severed phone and electricity lines.
However, other officials said they would not kill the Palestinian leader. "Do we intend to harm him? The answer is negative," said Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the defence minister.
The death toll in Wednesday night's suicide bombing rose to 22 yesterday, making it the deadliest attack on Israelis since the start of the Palestinan uprising. Its psychological impact was all the more devastating as the carnage arrived on the first night of Passover.
Despite the grave consequences of the attack, the Palestinian bombing campaign against Israeli civilians showed no sign of relenting. In Jerusalem, an 18-year-old teenager blew herself up in the entrance to a supermarket, killing two people.
At the holy site known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, Israeli riot police clashed with Palestinian stonethrowers.
Meanwhile, Israeli intelligence officials began hunting members of Mr Arafat's administration, including Sari Nusseibeh, the philosophy professor and peace activist who is the Palestinian leader's point man in Jerusalem.
However, the focus of yesterday's dramatic events was Ramallah, where the Palestinian leader said he was preparing for his death.
"God is great. Don't you know me by now? I am a martyr in the making," he told Abu Dhabi television, repeating three times: "May Allah honour me with martyrdom."
In another interview to al-Jazeera television, he said Israel plotted to do him physical harm. "They either want to kill me, capture me, or expel me," he said.
Later, he accused Washington of colluding with Israel's strategy, an impression that was given some credence by America's refusal to condemn the assault.
Amid the universal revulsion at the carnage in Netanya, Washington has an additional cause for anger: the attack destroyed the third ceasefire mission in four months by its envoy, General Anthony Zinni.
Although Israel's attack on Mr Arafat's headquarters threatens to derail a united Arab peace initiative that is just a day old, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, last night made it clear who America would blame. "Let's be clear about what brought it to a halt," he said. "Terrorism - terrorism that would target innocent civilians."
As the thud of tank shells and the rattle of machine-gun fire cut through the night, Palestinian officials feared Mr Arafat was in grave danger.
Others thought Mr Sharon was merely out to humiliate him in the eyes of his people so that he agrees to a ceasefire on Israel's terms.
"They are just sending a message to the Palestinian people," said a policeman. "They are saying: 'This is your leader. We can kill him. We can arrest him."
The tanks thundered towards Mr Arafat's compound at about 3am. As day broke, snipers took up positions on nearby rooftops, and the tanks and armoured personnel carriers began smashing through the walls of his compound, mangling gates and lamposts in their path.
By mid-afternoon, armoured bulldozers had gouged gaping craters into two buildings immediately adjacent to Mr Arafat's residence. Armoured personnel carriers pulled up in the forecourt and disgorged dozens of soldiers who poured into the buildings, funnelling out into various offices in a hunt for Palestinian gunmen.
- 27 Mar 2002
Furious Arafat to miss summit - Defiant Palestinian leader refuses to bow to the ever-toughening conditions of Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, for his attendance at today's Arab League summit in Beirut.
- 26 Mar 2002
Arafat travel ban remains in place - The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, has not yet met Israel's conditions for attending an Arab summit in Beirut but there is still time for him to do so, the Israeli government said today.
- Let Arafat attend summit, US urges
- The US stepped up pressure on Israel yesterday to let Yasser Arafat attend this week's crucial Arab summit in Beirut, which is expected to approve a Middle East peace initiative.
- 25 Mar 2002
Release Arafat, Bush asks Sharon - The US president, George Bush, today asked the Israeli prime minister to release Yasser Arafat from his confinement in Ramallah and let him attend an Arab League meeting in Lebanon, the White House said today.
10 mrt 2002
Arafat base destroyed after latest suicide attack
A Palestinian suicide bomber killed 11 people when he blew himself up late last night in a crowded Jerusalem cafe near Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's residence. Israel later responded by destroying Yasser Arafat's Gaza headquarters.
The bomber, a member of the Islamic militant group Hamas, struck after the Jewish Sabbath ended on Saturday night, shortly after two Palestinian gunmen had killed at least one Israeli in a shooting spree in the coastal city of Netanya.
Twenty-year-old Fouad Hurani detonated the bomb as he stood in a queue of people waiting for a table at the Moment Cafe about 100 metres from Sharon's official walled residence. The blast covered the floor with body parts, pools of blood and hundreds of nails and metal screws that had formed Hurani's bomb.
The bomber, a member of the Islamic militant group Hamas, struck after the Jewish Sabbath ended on Saturday night, shortly after two Palestinian gunmen had killed at least one Israeli in a shooting spree in the coastal city of Netanya.
Twenty-year-old Fouad Hurani detonated the bomb as he stood in a queue of people waiting for a table at the Moment Cafe about 100 metres from Sharon's official walled residence. The blast covered the floor with body parts, pools of blood and hundreds of nails and metal screws that had formed Hurani's bomb.
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"There was a blast that was simply atomic," a witness told Israel Radio, adding that about 50 people had been in the cafe. "People started screaming, going wild. Suddenly I got up and I saw something like 10 or 15 people laid out, unconscious." Police spokesman Gil Kleiman put the death toll at 11 and said the 54 wounded included several who were seriously hurt.
Blaming Arafat for the violence, Israel responded swiftly by carrying out the fiercest strike in 17 months of conflict on the Palestinian president's headquarters and security compound in densely-populated Gaza City. Palestinian security sources said helicopters slammed 30 missiles into the headquarters, sweeping |
away a key symbol of statehood and the Palestinian president's authority in a series of blasts and blinding white flashes that lit up the night sky.
There were no reports of injuries. Arafat was not there because Israeli forces have for three months confined him to the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he has another office. The attacks did succeed in destroying the studios of Palestine television contained within the complex.
The United States condemned the new violence and said it underlined the importance of a mission planned to the region by its Middle East envoy, Anthony Zinni, to try to prevent more than 17 months of bloodshed plunging into all-out war.
There were no reports of injuries. Arafat was not there because Israeli forces have for three months confined him to the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he has another office. The attacks did succeed in destroying the studios of Palestine television contained within the complex.
The United States condemned the new violence and said it underlined the importance of a mission planned to the region by its Middle East envoy, Anthony Zinni, to try to prevent more than 17 months of bloodshed plunging into all-out war.
Assassinations by Israel
March
- Samer Wajih Yunes 'Awis 27 year-old, resident of Jenin R.C, killed on 09 Mar 2002 next to Ramallah, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed while traveling in his car.'Omar
- Hussein Nimer Qadan 27 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 05 Mar 2002 next to al-Birah, Ramallah and al-Bira district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Was traveling in the car in which Abu Hilwa was sitting when assassinated.
- Fawzi Murar 27 year-old, resident of al-Birah, Ramallah and al-Bira district, killed on 05 Mar 2002 next to al-Birah, Ramallah and al-Bira district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed when sitting in the car with Abu Hilaweh during the assassination.
- Muhannad Diriyah Munir Abu Halaweh 23 year-old, resident of Aqraba, Nablus district, killed on 05 Mar 2002 next to al-Birah, Ramallah and al-Bira district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Assassinated while sitting in car. Also killed were the driver and another passenger.
Assassinations by Israel
- February
- Nazih Mahmoud Abu a-Saba' 26 year-old, resident of Jenin R.C, killed on 16 Feb 2002 next to Jenin, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed when a device planted inside his car exploded.
- 25 Feb 2002
- Israel ends tank blockade of Arafat headquarters
- Israel grants permission for Arafat to travel within the city of Ramallah, but still denies him complete freedom of movement through his diminished realm.
- 21 Feb 2002
- Arafat urges end to violence
- The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, today repeated calls for Palestinians to cease fire in the uprising that has provoked a deadly wave of Israeli retaliation.
- 20 Feb 2002
- Czech PM upbraided for comparing Arafat to Hitler
- The Czech Republic was embroiled in a row with the European Commission last night after Brussels publicly upbraided the Czech prime minister for comparing the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, to Adolf Hitler.
- Arafat is a disaster, but to blame him alone is perverse
- Tony Blair says the Middle East conflict is beyond moral judgment, and yet there are few confrontations that are so black and white in terms of morality. The least he can do is adopt an even-handed approach.
1 febr 2002
Sharon regrets not killing Arafat during Israeli invasion of Lebanon
Israel should have "eliminated" Yasser Arafat 20 years ago, the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, says in an interview published today. Eliminating the Palestinian leader during the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 would have saved many lives, Mr Sharon says, but there was a deal that he would not be harmed.
As the Israeli defence minister during the invasion, Mr Sharon dispatched tanks and troops to Beirut, where they bottled up Mr Arafat and his PLO fighters.
An internationally brokered deal then led to their evacuation by sea.
In the interview, published today in the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Mr Sharon is asked: "Why didn't you eliminate Arafat during the Lebanese war?"
He replies: "We had a commitment, and commitments must be honoured."
Q: Do you regret it?
A: No doubt. He has caused us many casualties and heavy damage.
Q: Today, do you regret it?
A: Certainly, yes. But we had a commitment not to do it.
Q: What if you had done it?
A: Our situation today would have been a lot better.
Asked why he does not eliminate Mr Arafat now, Mr Sharon replies: "We have no intention of harming Arafat personally ... it would cause Israel damage. We have no intention of dismantling the infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority."
The Palestinian leader is currently under virtual house arrest in his Ramallah office, surrounded by Israeli tanks.
Palestinian cabinet member Saeb Erekat said yesterday: "I think this reflects what has been always said - that Sharon is trying to finish what he began in 1982.
"For prime ministers to announce openly their gangster intention is a reflection of what kind of government we're dealing with."
Although Mr Sharon has declared the Palestinian leader "irrelevant" and tried to isolate him, he says in the Maariv interview that he would again consider Mr Arafat as a peace partner if he met all Israel's security demands.
"If Arafat will take the steps being asked of him, he would return to being our partner in negotiations," Mr Sharon says. "There is an answer to the issue of terror."
In the interview, Mr Sharon is asked about a peace plan worked out last December between the foreign minister, Shimon Peres, and Ahmed Qurei, the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, which proposed declaring an interim Palestinian state on the land that is already under Palestinian Authority control.
Mr Sharon says he does not support the plan, but suggests that "an agreement can be derived from the proposal that will end the conflict".
With Mr Arafat's cooperation, he says, the conflict will end with "an independent Palestinian state. For a true peace, I'm ready to give up pieces of Israel."
As the Israeli defence minister during the invasion, Mr Sharon dispatched tanks and troops to Beirut, where they bottled up Mr Arafat and his PLO fighters.
An internationally brokered deal then led to their evacuation by sea.
In the interview, published today in the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Mr Sharon is asked: "Why didn't you eliminate Arafat during the Lebanese war?"
He replies: "We had a commitment, and commitments must be honoured."
Q: Do you regret it?
A: No doubt. He has caused us many casualties and heavy damage.
Q: Today, do you regret it?
A: Certainly, yes. But we had a commitment not to do it.
Q: What if you had done it?
A: Our situation today would have been a lot better.
Asked why he does not eliminate Mr Arafat now, Mr Sharon replies: "We have no intention of harming Arafat personally ... it would cause Israel damage. We have no intention of dismantling the infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority."
The Palestinian leader is currently under virtual house arrest in his Ramallah office, surrounded by Israeli tanks.
Palestinian cabinet member Saeb Erekat said yesterday: "I think this reflects what has been always said - that Sharon is trying to finish what he began in 1982.
"For prime ministers to announce openly their gangster intention is a reflection of what kind of government we're dealing with."
Although Mr Sharon has declared the Palestinian leader "irrelevant" and tried to isolate him, he says in the Maariv interview that he would again consider Mr Arafat as a peace partner if he met all Israel's security demands.
"If Arafat will take the steps being asked of him, he would return to being our partner in negotiations," Mr Sharon says. "There is an answer to the issue of terror."
In the interview, Mr Sharon is asked about a peace plan worked out last December between the foreign minister, Shimon Peres, and Ahmed Qurei, the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, which proposed declaring an interim Palestinian state on the land that is already under Palestinian Authority control.
Mr Sharon says he does not support the plan, but suggests that "an agreement can be derived from the proposal that will end the conflict".
With Mr Arafat's cooperation, he says, the conflict will end with "an independent Palestinian state. For a true peace, I'm ready to give up pieces of Israel."
Assassinations by Israel
January
Raed Muhammad Ra'if Carmi 28 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 14 Jan 2002 next to Tulkarm, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed by explosives planted by Israel.
Raed Muhammad Ra'if Carmi 28 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 14 Jan 2002 next to Tulkarm, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed by explosives planted by Israel.
31 jan 2002
Sharon 'sorry' he let Arafat live
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, said today that the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, could be a partner in future peace negotiations - but added that he was "sorry" Israel had not killed him when it had the chance.In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Maariv, he said there was an agreement during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon not to "liquidate" Mr Arafat while he was under siege in Beruit.
"I'm sorry that we didn't," he said. In recent speeches he has accused Mr Arafat of leading a "gang of terrorists", and in the days after September 11 he labelled him "our Bin Laden".
The Palestinian leader has been confined by Israeli tanks to his offices in the West Bank town of Ramallah since an upsurge of violence in December last year.
An adviser to Mr Arafat, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said the remark was a "provocation".
But Mr Sharon also told Maariv that Mr Arafat could be a partner in peace negotiations if he stamped out terrorist attacks against Israelis. He also reiterated that Palestinian statehood was inevitable - a stance that has sparked criticism from leading figures in his rightwing Likud party.
Mr Sharon was the defence minister at the time of the 1982 invasion, and led the push to drive Mr Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organisation out of Lebanon. It was during that conflict that his Lebanese Christian militia allies entered refugee camps and massacred between 800 and 1,000 people.
His troops cornered Mr Arafat and the PLO in Beruit, but an internationally brokered agreement allowed them to escape by sea.
Ariel Sharon on Yasser Arafat
The Israeli prime minister's view of the Palestinian leader, in his own words:
"Everyone has his own Bin Laden. Arafat is our Bin Laden."
Conversation with Colin Powell, September 13 2001.
"A murderer and a pathological liar."
Interview with Russian TV, June 6 2001.
"To my sorrow he has remained a leader of terror."
Speech to the Israeli parliament, March 28 2001.
"I'm sorry that we didn't liquidate him."
Interview with Maariv newspaper on the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, January 31 2002.
"He is dying to travel, to fly. He is ill from the fact that he is closed in, in his pen."
On Mr Arafat's virtual imprisonment in Ramallah, January 20 2002.
"The greatest obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East."
Speech to the Israeli people, December 3 2001.
"His strategy is a strategy of terror."
Interview with CNN, September 21 2001.
"I'm sorry that we didn't," he said. In recent speeches he has accused Mr Arafat of leading a "gang of terrorists", and in the days after September 11 he labelled him "our Bin Laden".
The Palestinian leader has been confined by Israeli tanks to his offices in the West Bank town of Ramallah since an upsurge of violence in December last year.
An adviser to Mr Arafat, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said the remark was a "provocation".
But Mr Sharon also told Maariv that Mr Arafat could be a partner in peace negotiations if he stamped out terrorist attacks against Israelis. He also reiterated that Palestinian statehood was inevitable - a stance that has sparked criticism from leading figures in his rightwing Likud party.
Mr Sharon was the defence minister at the time of the 1982 invasion, and led the push to drive Mr Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organisation out of Lebanon. It was during that conflict that his Lebanese Christian militia allies entered refugee camps and massacred between 800 and 1,000 people.
His troops cornered Mr Arafat and the PLO in Beruit, but an internationally brokered agreement allowed them to escape by sea.
Ariel Sharon on Yasser Arafat
The Israeli prime minister's view of the Palestinian leader, in his own words:
"Everyone has his own Bin Laden. Arafat is our Bin Laden."
Conversation with Colin Powell, September 13 2001.
"A murderer and a pathological liar."
Interview with Russian TV, June 6 2001.
"To my sorrow he has remained a leader of terror."
Speech to the Israeli parliament, March 28 2001.
"I'm sorry that we didn't liquidate him."
Interview with Maariv newspaper on the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, January 31 2002.
"He is dying to travel, to fly. He is ill from the fact that he is closed in, in his pen."
On Mr Arafat's virtual imprisonment in Ramallah, January 20 2002.
"The greatest obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East."
Speech to the Israeli people, December 3 2001.
"His strategy is a strategy of terror."
Interview with CNN, September 21 2001.
28 Jan 2002
- White House turns on Arafat
- The US vice-president, Dick Cheney, yesterday accused Yasser Arafat of failing "to make a 100%" effort to curb terrorist attacks, amid growing criticism of the Palestinian leader by the Bush administration.
- Bush joins Israel in isolating Arafat
- The United States and the Palestinian Authority stepped up their war of words last night as US officials hinted that a "disappointed" President Bush was considering severing diplomatic relations with Yasser Arafat.
19 jan 2002
Israeli missiles raze Arafat police HQ
Troops encircle leader's office to avenge attack at bat mitzvah.
Israel tightened the noose around Yasser Arafat yesterday by intensifying attacks aimed at what is left of his crumbling authority. Israel said it was "teaching the Palestinian Authority a lesson it will never forget" for an armed Palestinian attack on guests at a bat mitzvah celebration late on Thursday that left six Israelis dead and dozens wounded in the northern Israeli town of Hadera.
The first lesson came early yesterday when missiles fired from F16 fighter jets reduced the authority's main police headquarters in the West Bank town of Tulkarem to rubble. One policeman was killed, 40 others were injured.
Tulkarem was attacked because it is a stronghold of the al-Aqsa Brigades, the grassroots militia linked to Mr Arafat's Fatah movement that claimed responsibility for the attack on Hadera.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah - where Mr Arafat has been confined for more than a month by an Israeli blockade - tanks and armoured personnel carriers rolled to within 30 metres of his red-tiled presidential offices.
The army also reoccupied the main northern and eastern approaches to the town, in what it called a "tightening encirclement".
"Arafat does not prevent his Fatah militants and terror organisations from carrying out attacks. So I ordered the encirclement and closure of the Palestinian cities," said the Israeli defence minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.
Mr Arafat took extra security precautions yesterday, performing Friday prayers in his office, instead of in a mosque in the compound.
Walking to the mosque would have meant crossing an open courtyard and Mr Arafat did not want to be exposed to Israeli view, Palestinian security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
About 4,000 Palestinians marched towards Mr Arafat's office to protest against the Israeli incursions and demand the release of suspected Palestinian militants held by the authority, including Ahmed Saadat, who is accused of orchestrating the killing of the Israelicabinet minister Rahavam Zeevi in October. "Palestinian Authority, traitors, release the political prisoners," the crowd chanted.
About 200 marchers broke away and threw stones at Israeli tanks parked outside Mr Arafat's office. Troops fired tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live rounds. Three Palestinians were wounded, one seriously, by live fire, and five were hit by rubber bullets, doctors said.
In all, about 20 Israeli tanks took up positions in several neighbourhoods of Ramallah, and soldiers searched the home of the West Bank intelligence chief Tawfik Tirawi, who was not there at the time.
The violence left little hope that a US peace mission could still succeed. The US envoy, Anthony Zinni, was expected to return to the region this week, but his trip was delayed because of the violence.
"We call on the US to intervene before the situation explodes. And we warn the Israeli government against crossing the red line of assassination and incursion," said a spokesman for the authority, Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
But the Americans appeared to have lost patience with the Palestinian leader. Condemning the "terrorist murder" in Hadera, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said: "This senseless violence does nothing but destroy innocent lives, leads nowhere and keeps us from finding a way forward."
Palestinians believe the Israeli army's next move will be to throw an armed ring around Mr Arafat's Ramallah offices, severing him not only from the world but also from his own people. "Then he will be not just a prisoner among us but in a prison from us," said Abu Leila, a local leader of the PLO's Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine faction.
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is thought to have ceased relying on whether Mr Arafat has control over militias such as the al-Aqsa Brigades.
Mr Sharon is believed to want Mr Arafat to wither until he becomes as irrelevant to his people as he is to him.
Israel tightened the noose around Yasser Arafat yesterday by intensifying attacks aimed at what is left of his crumbling authority. Israel said it was "teaching the Palestinian Authority a lesson it will never forget" for an armed Palestinian attack on guests at a bat mitzvah celebration late on Thursday that left six Israelis dead and dozens wounded in the northern Israeli town of Hadera.
The first lesson came early yesterday when missiles fired from F16 fighter jets reduced the authority's main police headquarters in the West Bank town of Tulkarem to rubble. One policeman was killed, 40 others were injured.
Tulkarem was attacked because it is a stronghold of the al-Aqsa Brigades, the grassroots militia linked to Mr Arafat's Fatah movement that claimed responsibility for the attack on Hadera.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah - where Mr Arafat has been confined for more than a month by an Israeli blockade - tanks and armoured personnel carriers rolled to within 30 metres of his red-tiled presidential offices.
The army also reoccupied the main northern and eastern approaches to the town, in what it called a "tightening encirclement".
"Arafat does not prevent his Fatah militants and terror organisations from carrying out attacks. So I ordered the encirclement and closure of the Palestinian cities," said the Israeli defence minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.
Mr Arafat took extra security precautions yesterday, performing Friday prayers in his office, instead of in a mosque in the compound.
Walking to the mosque would have meant crossing an open courtyard and Mr Arafat did not want to be exposed to Israeli view, Palestinian security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
About 4,000 Palestinians marched towards Mr Arafat's office to protest against the Israeli incursions and demand the release of suspected Palestinian militants held by the authority, including Ahmed Saadat, who is accused of orchestrating the killing of the Israelicabinet minister Rahavam Zeevi in October. "Palestinian Authority, traitors, release the political prisoners," the crowd chanted.
About 200 marchers broke away and threw stones at Israeli tanks parked outside Mr Arafat's office. Troops fired tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live rounds. Three Palestinians were wounded, one seriously, by live fire, and five were hit by rubber bullets, doctors said.
In all, about 20 Israeli tanks took up positions in several neighbourhoods of Ramallah, and soldiers searched the home of the West Bank intelligence chief Tawfik Tirawi, who was not there at the time.
The violence left little hope that a US peace mission could still succeed. The US envoy, Anthony Zinni, was expected to return to the region this week, but his trip was delayed because of the violence.
"We call on the US to intervene before the situation explodes. And we warn the Israeli government against crossing the red line of assassination and incursion," said a spokesman for the authority, Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
But the Americans appeared to have lost patience with the Palestinian leader. Condemning the "terrorist murder" in Hadera, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said: "This senseless violence does nothing but destroy innocent lives, leads nowhere and keeps us from finding a way forward."
Palestinians believe the Israeli army's next move will be to throw an armed ring around Mr Arafat's Ramallah offices, severing him not only from the world but also from his own people. "Then he will be not just a prisoner among us but in a prison from us," said Abu Leila, a local leader of the PLO's Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine faction.
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is thought to have ceased relying on whether Mr Arafat has control over militias such as the al-Aqsa Brigades.
Mr Sharon is believed to want Mr Arafat to wither until he becomes as irrelevant to his people as he is to him.
11 jan 2002 Sharon breaks links with Arafat's team
Assassinations by Israel
December
Burhan al-Haymuni 3 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 10 Dec 2001 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed while with his brother in a car near a car that contained a target for assassination and was struck.
Shadi Ahmad 'Arfah 13 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 10 Dec 2001 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed while with his brother in a car near a car that contained a target for assassination and was struck.
Burhan al-Haymuni 3 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 10 Dec 2001 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed while with his brother in a car near a car that contained a target for assassination and was struck.
Shadi Ahmad 'Arfah 13 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 10 Dec 2001 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed while with his brother in a car near a car that contained a target for assassination and was struck.
24 dec 2001
Israel issues travel ultimatum to Arafat
Rehavam Zeevi
Israeli officials today issued an ultimatum to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat: arrest the men who assassinated an Israeli cabinet minister in October, or you will not be allowed to travel to Bethlehem for Christmas mass.
Israel has handed Mr Arafat a list of two names - men they believe responsible for the murder of the rightwing tourism minister, Rehavam Zeevi, who must be arrested by sundown if Israel is to lift the travel ban.
Until now, Mr Arafat has said he is determined to make his pilgrimage to Bethlehem for midnight mass, which he has attended every year since 1995, when Israeli troops withdrew from the West Bank town. Today, however, Mr Arafat was evasive, saying in response to the Israeli ultimatum: "No one can humiliate the Palestinians or make them lose their determination."
When reporters asked Mr Arafat whether he intended to go to Bethlehem, the Palestinian information minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo answered for him, saying: "Yes, yes, of course, see you tonight in Bethlehem."
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has refused to allow Mr Arafat to travel the 14 miles from Ramallah to Bethlehem. Israel has insisted that Mr Arafat has "better things to do with his time", a reference to Israel's belief that the Palestinian leader has been lax in arresting those responsible for attacks on Israel.
Today the Israeli military sent reinforcements to checkpoints ringing the West Bank town of Ramallah, where Mr Arafat is staying, to prevent him from defying the travel ban. Although both towns are under Palestinian control, to reach them Mr Arafat would have to pass through Israeli tanks and checkpoints.
Mr Arafat has effectively been confined to Ramallah in recent weeks by an Israeli blockade.
Senior European Union diplomats said today they were in touch with Israeli foreign ministry officials in an attempt to have the travel ban rescinded.
"We believe that this decision spoils a lot of positive points that Israel has gained in European opinion in the past few weeks," said the Belgian ambassador to Israel, Wilfred Geens, speaking for the EU.
Mr Geens noted that Mr Arafat is the only Muslim leader who makes a point of attending Christmas mass in a show of religious tolerance.
"It would look very bad if Arafat were prevented from attending the mass," Mr Geens said.
However, Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Mr Sharon, said today that Israel would not lift the travel ban unless Mr Arafat arrests Zeevi's assassins, believed to be activists in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical PLO faction.
Israel also wants Mr Arafat to arrest the two leaders of the group, Ahmed Saadat and Jihad Ghoulmi. The government has said all four men are in Ramallah and that Mr Arafat knows of their whereabouts.
In Bethlehem, Christians were preparing for a sombre Christmas. Manger Square was decorated with Palestinian flags, Mr Arafat's picture, and a large banner in Arabic, English, French and German that read: "Sharon assassinates the joy of Christmas."
The fighting over the last year has dealt a crushing blow to the city of 30,000 Palestinians. The town is heavily dependent on Christian tourists from around the world, many of whom stayed home last Christmas due to the turmoil.
Israeli forces entered Bethlehem for 10 days in October in pursuit of Palestinian militants, and maintain heavily armed checkpoints at the town's edge. A small turnout was expected tonight for a midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity, built over Jesus's traditional birth grotto.
Israeli officials today issued an ultimatum to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat: arrest the men who assassinated an Israeli cabinet minister in October, or you will not be allowed to travel to Bethlehem for Christmas mass.
Israel has handed Mr Arafat a list of two names - men they believe responsible for the murder of the rightwing tourism minister, Rehavam Zeevi, who must be arrested by sundown if Israel is to lift the travel ban.
Until now, Mr Arafat has said he is determined to make his pilgrimage to Bethlehem for midnight mass, which he has attended every year since 1995, when Israeli troops withdrew from the West Bank town. Today, however, Mr Arafat was evasive, saying in response to the Israeli ultimatum: "No one can humiliate the Palestinians or make them lose their determination."
When reporters asked Mr Arafat whether he intended to go to Bethlehem, the Palestinian information minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo answered for him, saying: "Yes, yes, of course, see you tonight in Bethlehem."
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has refused to allow Mr Arafat to travel the 14 miles from Ramallah to Bethlehem. Israel has insisted that Mr Arafat has "better things to do with his time", a reference to Israel's belief that the Palestinian leader has been lax in arresting those responsible for attacks on Israel.
Today the Israeli military sent reinforcements to checkpoints ringing the West Bank town of Ramallah, where Mr Arafat is staying, to prevent him from defying the travel ban. Although both towns are under Palestinian control, to reach them Mr Arafat would have to pass through Israeli tanks and checkpoints.
Mr Arafat has effectively been confined to Ramallah in recent weeks by an Israeli blockade.
Senior European Union diplomats said today they were in touch with Israeli foreign ministry officials in an attempt to have the travel ban rescinded.
"We believe that this decision spoils a lot of positive points that Israel has gained in European opinion in the past few weeks," said the Belgian ambassador to Israel, Wilfred Geens, speaking for the EU.
Mr Geens noted that Mr Arafat is the only Muslim leader who makes a point of attending Christmas mass in a show of religious tolerance.
"It would look very bad if Arafat were prevented from attending the mass," Mr Geens said.
However, Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Mr Sharon, said today that Israel would not lift the travel ban unless Mr Arafat arrests Zeevi's assassins, believed to be activists in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical PLO faction.
Israel also wants Mr Arafat to arrest the two leaders of the group, Ahmed Saadat and Jihad Ghoulmi. The government has said all four men are in Ramallah and that Mr Arafat knows of their whereabouts.
In Bethlehem, Christians were preparing for a sombre Christmas. Manger Square was decorated with Palestinian flags, Mr Arafat's picture, and a large banner in Arabic, English, French and German that read: "Sharon assassinates the joy of Christmas."
The fighting over the last year has dealt a crushing blow to the city of 30,000 Palestinians. The town is heavily dependent on Christian tourists from around the world, many of whom stayed home last Christmas due to the turmoil.
Israeli forces entered Bethlehem for 10 days in October in pursuit of Palestinian militants, and maintain heavily armed checkpoints at the town's edge. A small turnout was expected tonight for a midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity, built over Jesus's traditional birth grotto.
- 20 Dec 2001
- Arafat arrests 12 members of his security force Israel and the Palestinian Authority were due to hold talks on security arrangements last night after Yasser Arafat bowed to pressure by arresting at least a dozen members of his own security service.
- 18 Dec 2001
Killing of militant undermines Arafat's ceasefire appeal - Israel greeted Yasser Arafat's call for an end to armed attacks on Israelis yesterday by assassinating a Hamas militant in the West Bank, and detaining a leading Palestinian peace activist in Jerusalem.
- 18 Dec 2001
Time up for Arafat For Yasser Arafat, a moment of personal reckoning is at hand. After a three-month slide into open warfare with Israel, as rapid as it was for his part largely uncontrolled and unplanned, the hapless Palestinian leader tried to call a halt on Sunday night. - 17 Dec 2001
- End suicide attacks, says Arafat
- The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, called for an end to suicide bombing attacks against Israelis last night as he sought to re-engage with the Jewish state and the international community from his besieged Ramallah headquarters.
- 15 Dec 2001
-
Sharon aims to stir uprising against Arafat
The Israeli army drove deeper into Yasser Arafat's shrinking realm yesterday, storming four West Bank villages with tanks and helicopter gunships, killing eight Palestinians, and arresting more than 40 others. - 14 Dec 2001
-
Israel pushes Arafat to the brink
The continuing onslaught on the West Bank and Gaza threatens to create vacuum in Palestinian leadership. - 13 Dec 2001
-
Israel breaks ties with Arafat
* Israeli gunships pound West Bank and Gaza
* Three Palestinians killed
* Palestinians: action is 'declaration of war' - 6 Dec 2001
- Arafat buys respite from Israeli onslaught
- The Israeli government agreed to a 12-hour pause in the offensive against the Palestinian Authority yesterday when its leader, Yasser Arafat, apparently bowed to pressure to arrest senior members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
5 dec 2001
Sharon vs Arafat
Mahmoud Abu Hanoud
The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians has reached new heights of brutality in recent days, with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon personally blaming Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Simon Jeffery explains
Why is Israel targeting Yasser Arafat?
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, blames Mr Arafat for three suicide bomb attacks that killed 25 people in Jewish west Jerusalem and the port city of Haifa at the weekend. In a television broadcast widely seen as a justification for Israel's latest strikes, Mr Sharon said the Palestinian leader had forced a war on Israel: "We know who is guilty. We know who is responsible. Arafat is guilty of everything that is happening here."
Was he behind the suicide attack?
No. Hamas, an Islamist terrorist group that has carried out many similar attacks, immediately claimed responsibility. It is at the extreme end of the Palestinian movement and has few direct links to the Palestinian Authority, which was set up to administer lands ceded to the Palestinian people through the Middle East peace process.
However, Israel has repeatedly said that Mr Arafat is not doing enough to stop terrorists from the West Bank and Gaza Strip (his territories) committing atrocities in Israel. After the latest suicide attacks Mr Sharon went further, saying: "In choosing to allow the ruthless killing of innocent civilians, Arafat has chosen the path of terrorism."
Is there any truth in that?
Mr Sharon was using similar language to that used by the US president, George Bush, when justifying the war in Afghanistan. The Israeli prime minister said that Mr Arafat had "chosen the path of terrorism" by allowing, or not acting to end, Hamas's existence in the Palestinian territories, much as Mr Bush said "You're with us or you're with the terrorists".
Mr Sharon's arguments go back further than September 11; in the late 1990s Mr Arafat arrested Islamic Jihad and Hamas members, only to release them at the beginning of the current uprising, a source of continuing antagonism with Israel. The then Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, said he considered the release of the prisoners (made after a helicopter strike on Mr Arafat's Gaza City HQ) "a grave act" that could invite terrorist attacks. Among the freed men were the leaders of the military wing of Hamas, including Mohammed Deif, a feared bomb expert killed by Israeli missiles in August this year.
What does Israel want?
It is not specifically denying the right of the Palestinians to administer their own affairs, or work towards forming a state (though some suspect otherwise, and the Israeli blockade is crippling the Palestinians) but an end to the militant presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
However, Israel has broadened its definition of what constitutes a terrorist group and now includes Force 17, Mr Arafat's personal security force. Palestinian Authority security personnel have also been targeted in the strikes. Some believe that Mr Sharon wants to kill - or expel - the Palestinian leader. An adviser to the Israeli prime minister said the strategy is to "hit something close", which could be interpreted as an attempt to increase the pressure on Mr Arafat to act against Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
Will he do that?
His position in the Palestinian territories is not secure. The Palestinian Authority is unpopular, close to broke and crumbling. And the more Israel makes incursions into the Palestinian territory, the more the militant groups gain in support. If Mr Arafat did take tough action against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as Israel is demanding, he may provoke a civil war and bring about his own demise. Few in the international community would wish to see that.
But the 130 or so arrests Mr Arafat has made so far have provoked riots, and fuelled Palestinian frustration against Israel and his own administration. The tension only rises: a Palestinian cabinet member, Hisham Abdel Razek, said that Israel strikes were undermining the authority's ability to crack down on militant groups.
Why did Hamas launch the suicide attacks?
Its stated reason was revenge for the assassination of its West Bank military commander, Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, by Israeli missiles. But it is part of a cycle of violence that has blighted Israel and the Palestinian territories since the September 2000 uprising. Approximately 1,000 people have died since then, the vast majority on the Palestinian side.
Although Israel and the Palestinian Authority are participants in a peace process, sections of both populations - and at times both administrations - are involved an active conflict. Palestinian gunmen have targeted Jewish settlers, the army has fired on their villages and, in response, young Palestinians - sometimes children - have fought the soldiers. Israel has made regular incursions into the West Bank and Gaza Strip, assassinated suspected militants and effectively ended economic life in the territories through tight blockades.
What of the two men's history?
In his televised address, Mr Sharon called Mr Arafat the "greatest obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East" - something he said was true in the past, present and future. Few Israelis could have mistaken this as a reference to the 1972 Munich Olympics when 11 of their athletes were assassinated by an extremist group, Black September, said to be linked to Mr Arafat's own Fatah faction.
Many of Mr Sharon's predecessors have a more conciliatory attitude to Mr Arafat, and some in his own cabinet are urging an end to this "war on terror". But among Palestinians Mr Sharon is widely regarded as a war criminal for his part in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon on a mission to wipe out Mr Arafat's PLO. His Lebanese Christian militia allies entered refugee camps to ostensibly search for Palestinian fighters and massacred between 800 and 1,000 people, including many children, in a 36-hour spree. A swift conclusion to the present crisis is unlikely.
The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians has reached new heights of brutality in recent days, with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon personally blaming Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Simon Jeffery explains
Why is Israel targeting Yasser Arafat?
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, blames Mr Arafat for three suicide bomb attacks that killed 25 people in Jewish west Jerusalem and the port city of Haifa at the weekend. In a television broadcast widely seen as a justification for Israel's latest strikes, Mr Sharon said the Palestinian leader had forced a war on Israel: "We know who is guilty. We know who is responsible. Arafat is guilty of everything that is happening here."
Was he behind the suicide attack?
No. Hamas, an Islamist terrorist group that has carried out many similar attacks, immediately claimed responsibility. It is at the extreme end of the Palestinian movement and has few direct links to the Palestinian Authority, which was set up to administer lands ceded to the Palestinian people through the Middle East peace process.
However, Israel has repeatedly said that Mr Arafat is not doing enough to stop terrorists from the West Bank and Gaza Strip (his territories) committing atrocities in Israel. After the latest suicide attacks Mr Sharon went further, saying: "In choosing to allow the ruthless killing of innocent civilians, Arafat has chosen the path of terrorism."
Is there any truth in that?
Mr Sharon was using similar language to that used by the US president, George Bush, when justifying the war in Afghanistan. The Israeli prime minister said that Mr Arafat had "chosen the path of terrorism" by allowing, or not acting to end, Hamas's existence in the Palestinian territories, much as Mr Bush said "You're with us or you're with the terrorists".
Mr Sharon's arguments go back further than September 11; in the late 1990s Mr Arafat arrested Islamic Jihad and Hamas members, only to release them at the beginning of the current uprising, a source of continuing antagonism with Israel. The then Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, said he considered the release of the prisoners (made after a helicopter strike on Mr Arafat's Gaza City HQ) "a grave act" that could invite terrorist attacks. Among the freed men were the leaders of the military wing of Hamas, including Mohammed Deif, a feared bomb expert killed by Israeli missiles in August this year.
What does Israel want?
It is not specifically denying the right of the Palestinians to administer their own affairs, or work towards forming a state (though some suspect otherwise, and the Israeli blockade is crippling the Palestinians) but an end to the militant presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
However, Israel has broadened its definition of what constitutes a terrorist group and now includes Force 17, Mr Arafat's personal security force. Palestinian Authority security personnel have also been targeted in the strikes. Some believe that Mr Sharon wants to kill - or expel - the Palestinian leader. An adviser to the Israeli prime minister said the strategy is to "hit something close", which could be interpreted as an attempt to increase the pressure on Mr Arafat to act against Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
Will he do that?
His position in the Palestinian territories is not secure. The Palestinian Authority is unpopular, close to broke and crumbling. And the more Israel makes incursions into the Palestinian territory, the more the militant groups gain in support. If Mr Arafat did take tough action against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as Israel is demanding, he may provoke a civil war and bring about his own demise. Few in the international community would wish to see that.
But the 130 or so arrests Mr Arafat has made so far have provoked riots, and fuelled Palestinian frustration against Israel and his own administration. The tension only rises: a Palestinian cabinet member, Hisham Abdel Razek, said that Israel strikes were undermining the authority's ability to crack down on militant groups.
Why did Hamas launch the suicide attacks?
Its stated reason was revenge for the assassination of its West Bank military commander, Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, by Israeli missiles. But it is part of a cycle of violence that has blighted Israel and the Palestinian territories since the September 2000 uprising. Approximately 1,000 people have died since then, the vast majority on the Palestinian side.
Although Israel and the Palestinian Authority are participants in a peace process, sections of both populations - and at times both administrations - are involved an active conflict. Palestinian gunmen have targeted Jewish settlers, the army has fired on their villages and, in response, young Palestinians - sometimes children - have fought the soldiers. Israel has made regular incursions into the West Bank and Gaza Strip, assassinated suspected militants and effectively ended economic life in the territories through tight blockades.
What of the two men's history?
In his televised address, Mr Sharon called Mr Arafat the "greatest obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East" - something he said was true in the past, present and future. Few Israelis could have mistaken this as a reference to the 1972 Munich Olympics when 11 of their athletes were assassinated by an extremist group, Black September, said to be linked to Mr Arafat's own Fatah faction.
Many of Mr Sharon's predecessors have a more conciliatory attitude to Mr Arafat, and some in his own cabinet are urging an end to this "war on terror". But among Palestinians Mr Sharon is widely regarded as a war criminal for his part in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon on a mission to wipe out Mr Arafat's PLO. His Lebanese Christian militia allies entered refugee camps to ostensibly search for Palestinian fighters and massacred between 800 and 1,000 people, including many children, in a 36-hour spree. A swift conclusion to the present crisis is unlikely.
4 dec 2001 Arafat security men arrest 110 militants
Palestinian leader risks internal splits
Heat turned up on Arafat · Missiles hit Palestinian leader's HQ
· Sharon: 'enemies will be destroyed'
· US backs Israeli action
3 dec 2001 Bombers leave Arafat facing toughest battle Dilemma as call for crackdown on terror grows
Palestinian leader risks internal splits
Heat turned up on Arafat · Missiles hit Palestinian leader's HQ
· Sharon: 'enemies will be destroyed'
· US backs Israeli action
3 dec 2001 Bombers leave Arafat facing toughest battle Dilemma as call for crackdown on terror grows
Assassinations by Israel
- November
- Ayman 'Awaisa 34 year-old, resident of Talluza, Nablus district, killed on 23 Nov 2001 next to al-Far'ah R.C, Tubas district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while traveling in a taxi.
- Maamun 'Awaisa 28 year-old, resident of Talluza, Nablus district, killed on 23 Nov 2001 next to al-Far'ah R.C, Tubas district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while traveling in a taxi.
- Mahmoud a-Shuli (Abu Hanud) 34 year-old, resident of Asira a-Shamaliya, Nablus district, killed on 23 Nov 2001 next to al-Far'ah R.C, Tubas district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while traveling in a taxi.
- Fahmi Abu 'Easheh 28 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 02 Nov 2001 next to Tulkarm, by gunfire, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in a car.
- Yasser 'Asira 25 year-old, resident of Tell, Nablus district, killed on 02 Nov 2001 next to Tulkarm, by gunfire, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in his car.
23 nov 2001
Israeli victims charge Arafat with terrorism
Sabra and Shatila massacre
Jews turn to Belgian court considering war crimes case against Sharon.
Thirty Israelis with relatives killed in Palestinian terror attacks are to bring a case against Yasser Arafat in a Belgian court, taking advantage of a 1993 law which allows Belgium to try foreign nationals for war crimes committed abroad. Their decision puts Belgium in a difficult position, because 28 survivors of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacres in Beirut 19 years ago have lodged a similar complaint against the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, using the same legal mechanism.
That case has already embarrassed the Belgian government. As the present holder of the EU's rotating presidency, it is supposed to be playing a key role in advancing the Middle East peace process, and it has found that difficult while its courts have been considering whether to prosecute Mr Sharon for war crimes.
The complaint against Mr Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority, will be lodged at the high court in Brussels on Tuesday, the day before the court is due to decide whether Mr Sharon can be tried for the killing at Sabra and Shatila.
The case against Mr Arafat does not relate to one single incident but seeks to hold him personally responsible for the death of "thousands of terror victims" since he "began operations in 1966", and accuses him of murder, genocide and crimes against humanity.
"It is ironic that we have to prove in court what all the world has known for over 20 years - that Yasser Arafat is the world's foremost terrorist," said Lieutenant-Colonel Meir Indor, chairman of the Terror Victims Association, which is bring the complaint.
"The time has now come to hold him responsible for his actions."
A Belgian lawyer, Yves Oschinsky, confirmed that he had been instructed to handle the case on behalf of the bereaved Israeli citizens, and said that their accusations "had nothing whatsoever to do with the Israeli government".
In a statement the complainants said that Mr Arafat would be charged with "murders which he ordered and which were carried out by members of organisations which Arafat controls: the PLO, the Palestinian Authority police force, Fatah, Tanzine and Force 17".
They said they intended to lay charges against Mr Arafat's "assistants", and specifically named Mohammed Dahlan, Marwan Barghoutti and Jibril Rajoub.
They made special reference to atrocities and attacks committed since the Palestinian Authority was set up in the West Bank and Gaza in 1994.
The 30 Israeli complainants lost relatives in a number of different attacks, including the infamous suicide bombing of a pizza restaurant in central Jerusalem earlier this year, which killed 15 people.
The case against Mr Arafat will be compiled by Mr Oschinsky, who will then have to persuade a judge that there is enough evidence to warrant a trial: a decision which is unlikely to be taken for some time.
In the Sharon case a decision will be made on Wednesday, since the original complaint was made in June.
Mr Sharon, who has called the case "an attempt to try the state of Israel and the Jewish people", snubbed an EU delegation led by the Belgian prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, at the weekend.
He is accused of being responsible for the death of some Palestinian and Lebanese refugees massacred when Lebanese Christian Phalangists ran amok in the Sabra and Shatila camps in 1982.
He was Israel's defence minister then, and allegedly allowed the killing to take place.
Jews turn to Belgian court considering war crimes case against Sharon.
Thirty Israelis with relatives killed in Palestinian terror attacks are to bring a case against Yasser Arafat in a Belgian court, taking advantage of a 1993 law which allows Belgium to try foreign nationals for war crimes committed abroad. Their decision puts Belgium in a difficult position, because 28 survivors of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacres in Beirut 19 years ago have lodged a similar complaint against the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, using the same legal mechanism.
That case has already embarrassed the Belgian government. As the present holder of the EU's rotating presidency, it is supposed to be playing a key role in advancing the Middle East peace process, and it has found that difficult while its courts have been considering whether to prosecute Mr Sharon for war crimes.
The complaint against Mr Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority, will be lodged at the high court in Brussels on Tuesday, the day before the court is due to decide whether Mr Sharon can be tried for the killing at Sabra and Shatila.
The case against Mr Arafat does not relate to one single incident but seeks to hold him personally responsible for the death of "thousands of terror victims" since he "began operations in 1966", and accuses him of murder, genocide and crimes against humanity.
"It is ironic that we have to prove in court what all the world has known for over 20 years - that Yasser Arafat is the world's foremost terrorist," said Lieutenant-Colonel Meir Indor, chairman of the Terror Victims Association, which is bring the complaint.
"The time has now come to hold him responsible for his actions."
A Belgian lawyer, Yves Oschinsky, confirmed that he had been instructed to handle the case on behalf of the bereaved Israeli citizens, and said that their accusations "had nothing whatsoever to do with the Israeli government".
In a statement the complainants said that Mr Arafat would be charged with "murders which he ordered and which were carried out by members of organisations which Arafat controls: the PLO, the Palestinian Authority police force, Fatah, Tanzine and Force 17".
They said they intended to lay charges against Mr Arafat's "assistants", and specifically named Mohammed Dahlan, Marwan Barghoutti and Jibril Rajoub.
They made special reference to atrocities and attacks committed since the Palestinian Authority was set up in the West Bank and Gaza in 1994.
The 30 Israeli complainants lost relatives in a number of different attacks, including the infamous suicide bombing of a pizza restaurant in central Jerusalem earlier this year, which killed 15 people.
The case against Mr Arafat will be compiled by Mr Oschinsky, who will then have to persuade a judge that there is enough evidence to warrant a trial: a decision which is unlikely to be taken for some time.
In the Sharon case a decision will be made on Wednesday, since the original complaint was made in June.
Mr Sharon, who has called the case "an attempt to try the state of Israel and the Jewish people", snubbed an EU delegation led by the Belgian prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, at the weekend.
He is accused of being responsible for the death of some Palestinian and Lebanese refugees massacred when Lebanese Christian Phalangists ran amok in the Sabra and Shatila camps in 1982.
He was Israel's defence minister then, and allegedly allowed the killing to take place.
Assassinations by Israel
October
Jamil Jadallah al-Qawasmeh 25 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 31 Oct 2001 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in his house.
Ayman Halawah 26 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 22 Oct 2001 next to Nablus, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while riding in a car.
'Atef Ahmad 'Abayiat 26 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 18 Oct 2001 next to Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in a jeep with two relatives, who were also killed.
'Issa 'Atef Khatib 'Abayiat 28 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 18 Oct 2001 next to Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in a jeep with two relatives, who were also killed.
Jamal 'Abdallah 'Abayiat 35 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 18 Oct 2001 next to Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in a jeep with two relatives, who were also killed.
Ahmad Hassan Marshud 29 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 15 Oct 2001 next to Nablus, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing.
'Abd a-Rahman Sa'id Hamed 33 year-old, resident of Qalqiliya, killed on 14 Oct 2001 next to Qalqiliyah, by gunfire bullets fired from a sniper, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed at the entrance to his house.
Jamil Jadallah al-Qawasmeh 25 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 31 Oct 2001 next to Hebron, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in his house.
Ayman Halawah 26 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 22 Oct 2001 next to Nablus, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while riding in a car.
'Atef Ahmad 'Abayiat 26 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 18 Oct 2001 next to Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in a jeep with two relatives, who were also killed.
'Issa 'Atef Khatib 'Abayiat 28 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 18 Oct 2001 next to Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in a jeep with two relatives, who were also killed.
Jamal 'Abdallah 'Abayiat 35 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 18 Oct 2001 next to Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in a jeep with two relatives, who were also killed.
Ahmad Hassan Marshud 29 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 15 Oct 2001 next to Nablus, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing.
'Abd a-Rahman Sa'id Hamed 33 year-old, resident of Qalqiliya, killed on 14 Oct 2001 next to Qalqiliyah, by gunfire bullets fired from a sniper, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed at the entrance to his house.
18 oct 2001
Israel tells Arafat to hand over minister's assassins
Rehavam Zeevi
Palestinians await full brunt of retaliation for the assassination of Sharon's 'comrade in arms'.
Yasser Arafat faces an impossible test to his mastery of the art of political survival after Israel demanded he immediately hand over the killers of its far-right leader.The ultimatum, delivered by Israel's security cabinet early this morning, also calls on Mr Arafat to outlaw militant groups - such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine which claimed the killing of Rehavam Zeevi. If his Palestinian Authority does not, "there will be no choice but to view it as a state that supports terror and to act against it", the cabinet secretary, Gideon Saar, said.
Mr Arafat must choose between making amends for the assassination, or his popularity among his own people, who are overwhelmingly opposed to the arrest of Palestinian militants, or shutting down the intifada. The other variable is the international community, and how much pressure the US is willing to exert to salvage a Middle East ceasefire seen as vital to its efforts to forge a coalition with Arab states in the attacks on Afghanistan. In a small foretaste of potential reprisals, Israel froze all contacts with Mr Arafat's administration yesterday, and banned the Palestinian leader from using the Gaza airport - his sole exit to the outside world.
The security cabinet decided to step up military operations, and re-imposed a siege on Ramallah, in the West Bank. But given the audacity of yesterday's attack - against a cabinet minister and in Jerusalem - these appeared to be only symbolic acts, and there was an overwhelming sense that more retaliation would follow. In an address to Israel's Knesset yesterday, the prime minister, Ariel Sharon eulogised the ultra-nationalist Mr Zeevi as a personal friend and "a comrade in arms".
In the closely knit world of Israel politics that personal association - stretching back more than 50 years - could affect the severity of its response. As Mr Sharon told his security cabinet: "The situation is different today, and will not again be like it was yesterday." Those views were echoed by the defence minister, Binyamin Ben Eliezer, who said that the killing "dictates to us a new situation".
But he indicated that Israel was not - for the moment- thinking of re-occupying Palestinian-ruled territory. "We have no intention to go back where we have been," he said.
Other officials said the cabinet had not taken a decision to assassinate Palestinian political leaders.
Mr Arafat took a first step yesterday, arresting the Popular Front's spokesman, and vowing to hunt down the gunmen. But it is unlikely that will assuage Israeli anger. After a year of bloodshed and hate, most Israelis say they have no faith in the Palestinian leader's promises, and he will have to do far more to conquer that mistrust.
Nor is Mr Sharon's government likely to be moved by international appeals to save the ceasefire, and the prospect of resuming negotiations some months down the road. Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum said yesterday that with the US engaged in a war in Afghanistan, the US was hardly in a position to preach restraint.
"This is an enormous escalation in the war of terror against Israel," Binyamin Netanyahu, the former rightwing prime minister, said. "It is crossing another red line - as if there were any more red lines to cross - and it brings home a simple truth: either we crush the forces of terror, or they crush us.
"Did the US restrain itself in Afghanistan?"
On the left, the dovish former foreign minister, Shlomo Ben Ami, said he feared the shock and the anger at Mr Zeevi's assassination would overwhelm attempts by Washington to rescue the ceasefire, and keep Arab allies on side for its war on Afghanistan.
"I am not saying it is a doomed enterprise, but this is not going to serve the general cause of peace and stability," he said. Amid the shock and anger there were a few lone voices appealing for calm. "It is clear that whoever carried out this assassination wanted to drag us back into the cycle of bloodshed, and into a bloodbath," said Yossi Sarid, leader of the rightwing Meretz party. "It is important we do not drown in that blood." However, even Mr Sarid - the strongest supporter in the parliament of peace with the Palestinians - had angry words for Mr Arafat. "This is a test for Arafat to deal with right away. If he fails, the country will be put on fire, and no one can put it out." In recent days, Mr Sharon and other Israeli leaders have watched with smouldering resentment Mr Arafat's warm reception in European capitals, including Britain.
Yesterday's attack is bound to strengthen the argument that the new-found support for Mr Arafat is dangerously misguided, and that Washington's new-found interest in Middle East peace is born of self-interest rather than concern for Israel's future.
That suspicion will make it difficult for the US to apply pressure against retaliation. It will certainly delay plans to solidify the ceasefire by relaxing Israel's siege on the West Bank.
"They will lose credibility if they push for it," Mr Ben Ami said. "I am sure the Bush administration now knows that Arafat got a ticket to the front doors of European chancelleries and prime ministers' offices at a very cheap price."
Oct 20th Israeli tanks seize swath of Arafat's land
Palestinians await full brunt of retaliation for the assassination of Sharon's 'comrade in arms'.
Yasser Arafat faces an impossible test to his mastery of the art of political survival after Israel demanded he immediately hand over the killers of its far-right leader.The ultimatum, delivered by Israel's security cabinet early this morning, also calls on Mr Arafat to outlaw militant groups - such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine which claimed the killing of Rehavam Zeevi. If his Palestinian Authority does not, "there will be no choice but to view it as a state that supports terror and to act against it", the cabinet secretary, Gideon Saar, said.
Mr Arafat must choose between making amends for the assassination, or his popularity among his own people, who are overwhelmingly opposed to the arrest of Palestinian militants, or shutting down the intifada. The other variable is the international community, and how much pressure the US is willing to exert to salvage a Middle East ceasefire seen as vital to its efforts to forge a coalition with Arab states in the attacks on Afghanistan. In a small foretaste of potential reprisals, Israel froze all contacts with Mr Arafat's administration yesterday, and banned the Palestinian leader from using the Gaza airport - his sole exit to the outside world.
The security cabinet decided to step up military operations, and re-imposed a siege on Ramallah, in the West Bank. But given the audacity of yesterday's attack - against a cabinet minister and in Jerusalem - these appeared to be only symbolic acts, and there was an overwhelming sense that more retaliation would follow. In an address to Israel's Knesset yesterday, the prime minister, Ariel Sharon eulogised the ultra-nationalist Mr Zeevi as a personal friend and "a comrade in arms".
In the closely knit world of Israel politics that personal association - stretching back more than 50 years - could affect the severity of its response. As Mr Sharon told his security cabinet: "The situation is different today, and will not again be like it was yesterday." Those views were echoed by the defence minister, Binyamin Ben Eliezer, who said that the killing "dictates to us a new situation".
But he indicated that Israel was not - for the moment- thinking of re-occupying Palestinian-ruled territory. "We have no intention to go back where we have been," he said.
Other officials said the cabinet had not taken a decision to assassinate Palestinian political leaders.
Mr Arafat took a first step yesterday, arresting the Popular Front's spokesman, and vowing to hunt down the gunmen. But it is unlikely that will assuage Israeli anger. After a year of bloodshed and hate, most Israelis say they have no faith in the Palestinian leader's promises, and he will have to do far more to conquer that mistrust.
Nor is Mr Sharon's government likely to be moved by international appeals to save the ceasefire, and the prospect of resuming negotiations some months down the road. Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum said yesterday that with the US engaged in a war in Afghanistan, the US was hardly in a position to preach restraint.
"This is an enormous escalation in the war of terror against Israel," Binyamin Netanyahu, the former rightwing prime minister, said. "It is crossing another red line - as if there were any more red lines to cross - and it brings home a simple truth: either we crush the forces of terror, or they crush us.
"Did the US restrain itself in Afghanistan?"
On the left, the dovish former foreign minister, Shlomo Ben Ami, said he feared the shock and the anger at Mr Zeevi's assassination would overwhelm attempts by Washington to rescue the ceasefire, and keep Arab allies on side for its war on Afghanistan.
"I am not saying it is a doomed enterprise, but this is not going to serve the general cause of peace and stability," he said. Amid the shock and anger there were a few lone voices appealing for calm. "It is clear that whoever carried out this assassination wanted to drag us back into the cycle of bloodshed, and into a bloodbath," said Yossi Sarid, leader of the rightwing Meretz party. "It is important we do not drown in that blood." However, even Mr Sarid - the strongest supporter in the parliament of peace with the Palestinians - had angry words for Mr Arafat. "This is a test for Arafat to deal with right away. If he fails, the country will be put on fire, and no one can put it out." In recent days, Mr Sharon and other Israeli leaders have watched with smouldering resentment Mr Arafat's warm reception in European capitals, including Britain.
Yesterday's attack is bound to strengthen the argument that the new-found support for Mr Arafat is dangerously misguided, and that Washington's new-found interest in Middle East peace is born of self-interest rather than concern for Israel's future.
That suspicion will make it difficult for the US to apply pressure against retaliation. It will certainly delay plans to solidify the ceasefire by relaxing Israel's siege on the West Bank.
"They will lose credibility if they push for it," Mr Ben Ami said. "I am sure the Bush administration now knows that Arafat got a ticket to the front doors of European chancelleries and prime ministers' offices at a very cheap price."
Oct 20th Israeli tanks seize swath of Arafat's land
4 oct 2001
Arafat caught in the middle
Moshe Katzav
Israel yesterday blamed Yasser Arafat for the latest burst of violence, as Palestinian militants vowed to continue the intifada. Israeli officials were unmoved by Mr Arafat's repeated condemnations of Tuesday night's attack on a Jewish settlement in Gaza, and his promise to punish the gunmen from the Islamist militant group Hamas.
"If they want to, they can stop it [the violence]," Israel's president, Moshe Katzav, said.
Israel has routinely blamed Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority for failing to prevent suicide bombs and attacks on Jewish settlements. Although Israeli security officials admit that he has tried harder to enforce this truce - the product of intense pressure from Washington - he has not arrested militants as they demand.
Mr Arafat faces pressure from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which reject the truce and believe he is too weak to move against them.
"The struggle will continue as long as there is an occupation," said Abdul Aziz Rantissi, a Hamas leader in Gaza. "Mr Arafat only condemned the attack because of the US pressure. He will not arrest anyone; that would be going against the will of the people."
Tuesday night's attack marked a departure for Hamas, whose hallmark during the past year has been the suicide bombings that have wrought carnage inside Israel. The raid on the Elei Sinai settlement was the first commando-style operation by Hamas.
With Palestinian popular sentiment running against the ceasefire, Hamas appears to have the upper hand over Mr Arafat.
Mr Arafat's security officials say they have been crippled by Israeli bombing of their security installations and the demolition of their police posts, and are hard-stretched to enforce a ceasefire on a resentful population.
Israel yesterday blamed Yasser Arafat for the latest burst of violence, as Palestinian militants vowed to continue the intifada. Israeli officials were unmoved by Mr Arafat's repeated condemnations of Tuesday night's attack on a Jewish settlement in Gaza, and his promise to punish the gunmen from the Islamist militant group Hamas.
"If they want to, they can stop it [the violence]," Israel's president, Moshe Katzav, said.
Israel has routinely blamed Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority for failing to prevent suicide bombs and attacks on Jewish settlements. Although Israeli security officials admit that he has tried harder to enforce this truce - the product of intense pressure from Washington - he has not arrested militants as they demand.
Mr Arafat faces pressure from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which reject the truce and believe he is too weak to move against them.
"The struggle will continue as long as there is an occupation," said Abdul Aziz Rantissi, a Hamas leader in Gaza. "Mr Arafat only condemned the attack because of the US pressure. He will not arrest anyone; that would be going against the will of the people."
Tuesday night's attack marked a departure for Hamas, whose hallmark during the past year has been the suicide bombings that have wrought carnage inside Israel. The raid on the Elei Sinai settlement was the first commando-style operation by Hamas.
With Palestinian popular sentiment running against the ceasefire, Hamas appears to have the upper hand over Mr Arafat.
Mr Arafat's security officials say they have been crippled by Israeli bombing of their security installations and the demolition of their police posts, and are hard-stretched to enforce a ceasefire on a resentful population.
Assassinations by Israel
September
'Omar Mahmoud Dib Subuh 22 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 06 Sep 2001 next to Tulkarm, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in an assassination attempt on four Palestinians in which two were killed.
Mustafa 'Ahed Hassan 'Anbas 19 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 06 Sep 2001 next to Tulkarm, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in an assassination attempt on four Palestinians in which two were killed.
'Omar Mahmoud Dib Subuh 22 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 06 Sep 2001 next to Tulkarm, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in an assassination attempt on four Palestinians in which two were killed.
Mustafa 'Ahed Hassan 'Anbas 19 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 06 Sep 2001 next to Tulkarm, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in an assassination attempt on four Palestinians in which two were killed.
19 sept 2001
Arafat the winner in ceasefire battle
Sharon falls foul of US pressure to build coalition
From the moment the first airliner hit the World Trade Centre last Tuesday morning both sides in the Middle East conflict viewed the event through the prism of their own tactical advantage. From that point of view, the week began badly for Yasser Arafat, but it was ultimately Ariel Sharon who overplayed his hand and was forced to make the greater concessions, clearing the way for yesterday's ceasefire and an imminent return to negotiations.
The terrorist attack confronted Mr Arafat with a crucial decision. When the Gulf war broke out, the Palestinian leader had thrown his lot in with Saddam Hussein. It made him popular in the street, but he has been paying the price diplomatically ever since.
This time, by all accounts, he did not hesitate. He sent a message to Washington almost immediately condemning the hijackers and expressing his condolences. His efforts were, however, rapidly undermined by television images from the West Bank showing a small crowd of Palestinians celebrating America's humiliation.
Embarrassed, the Palestinian leadership quickly sent a second message, emphasising that the celebrants were a tiny minority of "ignorant" locals who did not represent their people. Mr Arafat was filmed (symbolically though redundantly) giving blood for the people of New York, but the damage had been done.
Meanwhile, Mr Sharon seized the attack as an opportunity. In his messages to the White House, he emphasised the parallels between the terrorists who had attacked New York and Washington and the Palestinian Authority. Casting its actions as part of an international crusade, he sent tanks in to Jenin and Jericho to quell unrest.
The Israeli military moves coincided with exploratory calls made by the secretary of state, Colin Powell, last Wednesday and Thursday. One Arab state after another expressed its condolences and a commitment to help, but each made the point that a comprehensive battle against extremists was impossible while battles between Israeli troops and Palestinians could be seen daily on Arab televisions.
Hands-off approach
Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the three key Arab allies, agreed that the Bush administration's initial hands-off approach to the conflict had allowed it to escalate. They pointed out that 20 Palestinians had been killed in armoured Israeli raids on Ramallah, Jenin and Jericho, and in a missile attack on Gaza.
By the end of the week, it was clear that it would be near impossible to build a coalition of the breadth of the one the president's father had rallied against Iraq in 1990, unless there was tangible progress in stopping the fighting in the occupied territories. President Bush called Mr Sharon, asking him to accept a meeting with Mr Arafat, in the long term interests of the war against terrorism. According to a US source, the conversation was inconclusive. Mr Sharon resented Israel's enforced passivity in the 1991 Gulf war, absorbing Scud attacks without response in the interests of the coalition's cohesion. It left Israel looking timid, he complained. He could not make the same mistake.
Over the course of the week, Mr Powell made four phone calls to Mr Arafat. According to the Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, the secretary of the state pleaded with Mr Arafat, saying "out of our misery we call upon you to get the peace process moving". Mr Arafat insisted, however, on a cessation of Israeli military actions in Palestinian controlled areas. Mr Powell went back to the Israelis for a response.
The Israeli prime minister gave his answer on Saturday. He called off a meeting arranged for Sunday between Mr Arafat and his doveish foreign minister, Shimon Peres, and tried to press the advantage handed to him on the first day by the damaging pictures of celebrating Palestinians.
"It is inconceivable to grant [Yasser Arafat] legitimacy because someone thinks that might facilitate the inclusion of Arab countries in this coalition," Mr Sharon told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth. "We will not pay the price for the establishment of this coalition."
He ordered the creation of a buffer zone on Palestinian land in the West Bank, closed to all Palestinians except local farmers, justifying the move as part of Israel's own struggle against terrorism and Mr Arafat - the "Bin Laden of the Middle East".
The Israeli rebuff caused outrage in the White House, cooling - perhaps permanently - the administration's hitherto admiring view of Mr Sharon. The US had after all lost more people in a single day than Israel had in decades of terrorism.
The weekend was a turning point, at which Jordan's King Abdullah and Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, played a critical role. No doubt aware of the implications of Mr Sharon's error of judgment, they took a hard line.
Mr Mubarak went on CNN at prime time on Monday to say that President Bush had personally promised him that he would be "very active" in trying to arrange a ceasefire between the two sides
"But what I'm seeing now is the Israeli government is seizing the opportunity and launching attacks now and then," the Egyptian leader said "This will have terrible repercussions after that."
King Abdullah went on record as saying that the attacks on the US would not have happened if Washington had resolved the problems in the Middle East, especially the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The Jordanians and Egyptians agreed to meet in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday to cement their common stand, and the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, representing another pivotal member of the Gulf coalition, is expected there today.
The leader of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zaid bin Sultan al-Nahayan, said the coalition could only work if the US avoided "double standards". The US should stop the "terrorist Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories." His words carried clout, as the UAE hosts one of the few Taliban diplomatic offices in the world.
The threat that coalition-building would stall in the Middle East produced another, sterner call to Mr Sharon on Monday. It is not known whether Mr Bush reminded the Israeli leader of the $3bn subsidy the US pays to Israel annually. Israelis keenly remember the withdrawal of US loan guarantees by Mr Bush's father. It helped to push a reluctant Israeli government to the negotiating table in Madrid.
Meanwhile on Monday, the European envoy to the Middle East, Miguel Moratinos, was huddled in Gaza with Mr Arafat and helped to coax from him the fullest Palestinian pledge of support to date.
The Palestinian leader yesterday sent the White House a declaration he was ready to join the anti-terrorist coalition, implying he would hand over intelligence on Bin Laden's affiliates in the Palestinian territories. "Our objective is securing a world where security, peace and justice prevail. I will do... whatever is necessary to achieve that goal," he said.
It was a declaration with the potential to make the Palestinians as useful to Washington in its anti-terrorist campaign as the Israelis, and it made it all but impossible for Mr Sharon to prevent a return to negotiations.
Mounting cost of the intifada
• The Palestinian intifada (uprising) began last September when Ariel Sharon, now Israel's prime minister, visited the mosques of Jerusalem's Temple Mount - or Haram al-Sharif as Muslims know it
• A total of 812 people have been killed: 622 Palestinians and 166 Israelis
• The youngest to die were a 10-month-old Jewish girl in March and a four-month-old Palestinian girl in May
• Unemployment in the West Bank and Gaza is more than 50%; before the intifada it was 10% to 15%
• Palestinian incomes were 10% of Israeli ones a year ago. Now they are 5%
• A third of the Palestinian population of 3.2m is living below the poverty line
• The UN estimates Israeli blockades cost the Palestinian economy $1.2bn (£820m) in the intifada's first four months
• Blockades stop Palestinian workers who had jobs in Israel travelling to work
• Israel is refusing to release $30m a month in taxes collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority
• Orange and olive trees farmed by Arabs near Jewish settlements have been uprooted by Israeli bulldozers
• The cost of infrastructural damage is estimated at $200m
Maryvonne Grellier
From the moment the first airliner hit the World Trade Centre last Tuesday morning both sides in the Middle East conflict viewed the event through the prism of their own tactical advantage. From that point of view, the week began badly for Yasser Arafat, but it was ultimately Ariel Sharon who overplayed his hand and was forced to make the greater concessions, clearing the way for yesterday's ceasefire and an imminent return to negotiations.
The terrorist attack confronted Mr Arafat with a crucial decision. When the Gulf war broke out, the Palestinian leader had thrown his lot in with Saddam Hussein. It made him popular in the street, but he has been paying the price diplomatically ever since.
This time, by all accounts, he did not hesitate. He sent a message to Washington almost immediately condemning the hijackers and expressing his condolences. His efforts were, however, rapidly undermined by television images from the West Bank showing a small crowd of Palestinians celebrating America's humiliation.
Embarrassed, the Palestinian leadership quickly sent a second message, emphasising that the celebrants were a tiny minority of "ignorant" locals who did not represent their people. Mr Arafat was filmed (symbolically though redundantly) giving blood for the people of New York, but the damage had been done.
Meanwhile, Mr Sharon seized the attack as an opportunity. In his messages to the White House, he emphasised the parallels between the terrorists who had attacked New York and Washington and the Palestinian Authority. Casting its actions as part of an international crusade, he sent tanks in to Jenin and Jericho to quell unrest.
The Israeli military moves coincided with exploratory calls made by the secretary of state, Colin Powell, last Wednesday and Thursday. One Arab state after another expressed its condolences and a commitment to help, but each made the point that a comprehensive battle against extremists was impossible while battles between Israeli troops and Palestinians could be seen daily on Arab televisions.
Hands-off approach
Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the three key Arab allies, agreed that the Bush administration's initial hands-off approach to the conflict had allowed it to escalate. They pointed out that 20 Palestinians had been killed in armoured Israeli raids on Ramallah, Jenin and Jericho, and in a missile attack on Gaza.
By the end of the week, it was clear that it would be near impossible to build a coalition of the breadth of the one the president's father had rallied against Iraq in 1990, unless there was tangible progress in stopping the fighting in the occupied territories. President Bush called Mr Sharon, asking him to accept a meeting with Mr Arafat, in the long term interests of the war against terrorism. According to a US source, the conversation was inconclusive. Mr Sharon resented Israel's enforced passivity in the 1991 Gulf war, absorbing Scud attacks without response in the interests of the coalition's cohesion. It left Israel looking timid, he complained. He could not make the same mistake.
Over the course of the week, Mr Powell made four phone calls to Mr Arafat. According to the Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, the secretary of the state pleaded with Mr Arafat, saying "out of our misery we call upon you to get the peace process moving". Mr Arafat insisted, however, on a cessation of Israeli military actions in Palestinian controlled areas. Mr Powell went back to the Israelis for a response.
The Israeli prime minister gave his answer on Saturday. He called off a meeting arranged for Sunday between Mr Arafat and his doveish foreign minister, Shimon Peres, and tried to press the advantage handed to him on the first day by the damaging pictures of celebrating Palestinians.
"It is inconceivable to grant [Yasser Arafat] legitimacy because someone thinks that might facilitate the inclusion of Arab countries in this coalition," Mr Sharon told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth. "We will not pay the price for the establishment of this coalition."
He ordered the creation of a buffer zone on Palestinian land in the West Bank, closed to all Palestinians except local farmers, justifying the move as part of Israel's own struggle against terrorism and Mr Arafat - the "Bin Laden of the Middle East".
The Israeli rebuff caused outrage in the White House, cooling - perhaps permanently - the administration's hitherto admiring view of Mr Sharon. The US had after all lost more people in a single day than Israel had in decades of terrorism.
The weekend was a turning point, at which Jordan's King Abdullah and Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, played a critical role. No doubt aware of the implications of Mr Sharon's error of judgment, they took a hard line.
Mr Mubarak went on CNN at prime time on Monday to say that President Bush had personally promised him that he would be "very active" in trying to arrange a ceasefire between the two sides
"But what I'm seeing now is the Israeli government is seizing the opportunity and launching attacks now and then," the Egyptian leader said "This will have terrible repercussions after that."
King Abdullah went on record as saying that the attacks on the US would not have happened if Washington had resolved the problems in the Middle East, especially the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The Jordanians and Egyptians agreed to meet in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday to cement their common stand, and the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, representing another pivotal member of the Gulf coalition, is expected there today.
The leader of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zaid bin Sultan al-Nahayan, said the coalition could only work if the US avoided "double standards". The US should stop the "terrorist Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories." His words carried clout, as the UAE hosts one of the few Taliban diplomatic offices in the world.
The threat that coalition-building would stall in the Middle East produced another, sterner call to Mr Sharon on Monday. It is not known whether Mr Bush reminded the Israeli leader of the $3bn subsidy the US pays to Israel annually. Israelis keenly remember the withdrawal of US loan guarantees by Mr Bush's father. It helped to push a reluctant Israeli government to the negotiating table in Madrid.
Meanwhile on Monday, the European envoy to the Middle East, Miguel Moratinos, was huddled in Gaza with Mr Arafat and helped to coax from him the fullest Palestinian pledge of support to date.
The Palestinian leader yesterday sent the White House a declaration he was ready to join the anti-terrorist coalition, implying he would hand over intelligence on Bin Laden's affiliates in the Palestinian territories. "Our objective is securing a world where security, peace and justice prevail. I will do... whatever is necessary to achieve that goal," he said.
It was a declaration with the potential to make the Palestinians as useful to Washington in its anti-terrorist campaign as the Israelis, and it made it all but impossible for Mr Sharon to prevent a return to negotiations.
Mounting cost of the intifada
• The Palestinian intifada (uprising) began last September when Ariel Sharon, now Israel's prime minister, visited the mosques of Jerusalem's Temple Mount - or Haram al-Sharif as Muslims know it
• A total of 812 people have been killed: 622 Palestinians and 166 Israelis
• The youngest to die were a 10-month-old Jewish girl in March and a four-month-old Palestinian girl in May
• Unemployment in the West Bank and Gaza is more than 50%; before the intifada it was 10% to 15%
• Palestinian incomes were 10% of Israeli ones a year ago. Now they are 5%
• A third of the Palestinian population of 3.2m is living below the poverty line
• The UN estimates Israeli blockades cost the Palestinian economy $1.2bn (£820m) in the intifada's first four months
• Blockades stop Palestinian workers who had jobs in Israel travelling to work
• Israel is refusing to release $30m a month in taxes collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority
• Orange and olive trees farmed by Arabs near Jewish settlements have been uprooted by Israeli bulldozers
• The cost of infrastructural damage is estimated at $200m
Maryvonne Grellier
14 sept 2001
Sharon likens Arafat to Bin Laden
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, laid down some covering fire yesterday as his tanks attacked Palestinian territory in search of terrorists: he likened Yasser Arafat to Osama bin Laden. Mr Sharon's previous terms for Mr Arafat have included "murderer" and "pathological liar".
But yesterday Israel Radio reported him as saying during a conversation with the US secretary of state, Colin Powell: "Everyone has his own Bin Laden. Arafat is our Bin Laden."
In launching attacks on Israel Mr Arafat has been following the "ideology" of Bin Laden, a spokesman for the prime minister added.
Mr Sharon, for his part, is accused of being a "war criminal" by Mr Arafat, whose officials are furious that the Arab uprising against occupation is being linked by the Israelis to the suicide attacks in the US. Bin Laden's network is strongly suspected of being the organising force behind the US attack.
But yesterday Israel Radio reported him as saying during a conversation with the US secretary of state, Colin Powell: "Everyone has his own Bin Laden. Arafat is our Bin Laden."
In launching attacks on Israel Mr Arafat has been following the "ideology" of Bin Laden, a spokesman for the prime minister added.
Mr Sharon, for his part, is accused of being a "war criminal" by Mr Arafat, whose officials are furious that the Arab uprising against occupation is being linked by the Israelis to the suicide attacks in the US. Bin Laden's network is strongly suspected of being the organising force behind the US attack.
Assassinations by Israel
August
Mustafa 'Ali a-Zibri Abu 'Ali Mustafa 63 year-old, resident of Ramallah, killed on 27 Aug 2001 next to Ramallah, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed when he was in the office of the Popular Front, and other apartments in the building were hit by the shelling.
'Imad Suliman a-Dik Abu Snineh 34 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 15 Aug 2001 next to Hebron, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed when shot to death by an undercover unit.
'Amer Mansur Hassan al-Hudeiri 23 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 05 Aug 2001 next to Tulkarm, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Three missiles were fired at his car.
Mustafa 'Ali a-Zibri Abu 'Ali Mustafa 63 year-old, resident of Ramallah, killed on 27 Aug 2001 next to Ramallah, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed when he was in the office of the Popular Front, and other apartments in the building were hit by the shelling.
'Imad Suliman a-Dik Abu Snineh 34 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 15 Aug 2001 next to Hebron, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed when shot to death by an undercover unit.
'Amer Mansur Hassan al-Hudeiri 23 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 05 Aug 2001 next to Tulkarm, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Three missiles were fired at his car.
5 aug 2001
Top Arafat aide escapes as Israel fires on motorcade
Policy of assassination moves a step closer to the Palestinian leader in latest attack.
Israel's strategy of assassinating Palestinian political and military leaders moved to within one rung of Yasser Arafat yesterday, when two missiles narrowly missed a car carrying the man who rules the streets of the West Bank.There were conflicting reports of how two tank missiles - launched from the heavily fortified illegal Jewish settlement of Psagot - came to be fired at a string of cars carrying senior Palestinian officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday afternoon.
However, the proximity of the attack to Marwan Barghouti - arguably the second best known figure in the West Bank after Arafat - and its timing, only days after two Hamas leaders were struck down by smart missiles, is bound to reignite international criticism of Israel's policy of assassinations.
It also threatens to prolong Washington's embarrassment after the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, appeared to support targeted killings - contradicting earlier rebukes from the Bush administration.
Minutes after two missiles exploded in a convoy of cars leaving the offices of the Fatah organisation in Ramallah, a shaken Barghouti emerged to accuse Israel of trying to kill him.
'This is a failed assassination attempt and this is a cowardly act by [the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel] Sharon and a crime. The criminal occupiers will pay for this new crime,' he told Voice of Palestine Radio.
Israeli security sources said the missiles were aimed for another man in the convoy, Mohammed Abu Halaweh, a member of Arafat's elite Force 17 security detail.
However, there were no doubts for the crowds gathering around the charred wreck of a car.
Other members of the Palestinian public establishment added their criticism, saying that Israel's latest attack would entrench a deepening cycle of attack and retaliation.
'It seems that Israel sees the Palestinians as fair game,' said Dr Hanan Ashrawi. 'What do you think Palestinian reaction will be? If the Israelis are playing a no-holds-barred game then I think the Palestinians will do the same.'
Barghouti said the missiles struck as he left his office in Ramallah, accompanied by a car of bodyguards. The first missile exploded in front of both cars, forcing the passengers to flee by foot. The second missile pierced the roof of one of the cars, injuring one of Barghouti's bodyguards, and spewing black smoke into the air.
He said he had no doubt he was the intended target of the Israeli tank shells.
'Everyone knows where my office is - we were holding a meeting in the office. As soon as we finished, we left the building. We were in two cars,' he said.
Yesterday's attack comes just days after Israel departed from its policy of targeted killings of bomb makers and gunmen to strike at the heart of the political structure of Hamas, assassinating the Islamic organisation's two most popular leaders in the West Bank.
Most Palestinians see the slain Hamas men - Jamal Mansour and Jamal Salim - as politicians who should be beyond the reach of Israeli security forces.
The killings of the Hamas men also led to a crescendo of criticism from the US, European Union and the Arab world. The Foreign Office Minister, Ben Bradshaw, denounced the killings as 'wrong and illegal'.
Just hours before yesterday's attack, however, Cheney broke ranks to show some sympathy for an Israeli policy that has killed more than 40 Palestinian activists, and dozens more innocent bystanders.
'In Israel, what they have done of course over the years is occasionally, in an effort to pre-empt terrorist activities, is to go after the terrorist. And in some cases, I suppose, by their lights, it is justified,' he told Fox news.
'If you have got an organisation that had plotted or is plotting some kind of suicide bomber attack, for example, and they have hard evidence of who it is, and where they are located, I think there is some justification in their trying to protect themselves.'
Barghouti, who commands Arafat's Fatah organisation in the West Bank, has been at the helm of Palestinian protest. A short and rather burly man, he is regularly sighted behind the lines of stone throwers taking on the Israeli army at a checkpoint north of Ramallah. He also appears incessantly in the foreign and Israeli media to proclaim - no matter what diplomatic moves are afoot - that 'the intifada will continue'.
Israel has just as regularly denounced him as the mastermind of drive-by shooting attacks on Jewish settlers, and of inciting crowds of young Palestinian protesters.
If - as it appears - yesterday's missile attack does turn out to have been a botched assassination attempt on Barghouti, it will confirm Israel's resort to the strategies that guided its policies towards the Palestinians during their exile in Beirut and Tunis during the 1970s and 1980s, when several leading figures were assassinated.
However, an attempt on Barghouti carries even greater resonance. As Arafat's lieutenant in the West Bank, Barghouti was responsible during much of the 1990s for marshalling Palestinian popular support behind the peace accords. He met regularly with Israeli peace activists.
Israel tries to kill top Arafat aide in missile attack on car
Israel's strategy of assassinating Palestinian political and military leaders moved to within one rung of Yasser Arafat yesterday, when two missiles narrowly missed a car carrying the man who rules the streets of the West Bank.There were conflicting reports of how two tank missiles - launched from the heavily fortified illegal Jewish settlement of Psagot - came to be fired at a string of cars carrying senior Palestinian officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday afternoon.
However, the proximity of the attack to Marwan Barghouti - arguably the second best known figure in the West Bank after Arafat - and its timing, only days after two Hamas leaders were struck down by smart missiles, is bound to reignite international criticism of Israel's policy of assassinations.
It also threatens to prolong Washington's embarrassment after the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, appeared to support targeted killings - contradicting earlier rebukes from the Bush administration.
Minutes after two missiles exploded in a convoy of cars leaving the offices of the Fatah organisation in Ramallah, a shaken Barghouti emerged to accuse Israel of trying to kill him.
'This is a failed assassination attempt and this is a cowardly act by [the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel] Sharon and a crime. The criminal occupiers will pay for this new crime,' he told Voice of Palestine Radio.
Israeli security sources said the missiles were aimed for another man in the convoy, Mohammed Abu Halaweh, a member of Arafat's elite Force 17 security detail.
However, there were no doubts for the crowds gathering around the charred wreck of a car.
Other members of the Palestinian public establishment added their criticism, saying that Israel's latest attack would entrench a deepening cycle of attack and retaliation.
'It seems that Israel sees the Palestinians as fair game,' said Dr Hanan Ashrawi. 'What do you think Palestinian reaction will be? If the Israelis are playing a no-holds-barred game then I think the Palestinians will do the same.'
Barghouti said the missiles struck as he left his office in Ramallah, accompanied by a car of bodyguards. The first missile exploded in front of both cars, forcing the passengers to flee by foot. The second missile pierced the roof of one of the cars, injuring one of Barghouti's bodyguards, and spewing black smoke into the air.
He said he had no doubt he was the intended target of the Israeli tank shells.
'Everyone knows where my office is - we were holding a meeting in the office. As soon as we finished, we left the building. We were in two cars,' he said.
Yesterday's attack comes just days after Israel departed from its policy of targeted killings of bomb makers and gunmen to strike at the heart of the political structure of Hamas, assassinating the Islamic organisation's two most popular leaders in the West Bank.
Most Palestinians see the slain Hamas men - Jamal Mansour and Jamal Salim - as politicians who should be beyond the reach of Israeli security forces.
The killings of the Hamas men also led to a crescendo of criticism from the US, European Union and the Arab world. The Foreign Office Minister, Ben Bradshaw, denounced the killings as 'wrong and illegal'.
Just hours before yesterday's attack, however, Cheney broke ranks to show some sympathy for an Israeli policy that has killed more than 40 Palestinian activists, and dozens more innocent bystanders.
'In Israel, what they have done of course over the years is occasionally, in an effort to pre-empt terrorist activities, is to go after the terrorist. And in some cases, I suppose, by their lights, it is justified,' he told Fox news.
'If you have got an organisation that had plotted or is plotting some kind of suicide bomber attack, for example, and they have hard evidence of who it is, and where they are located, I think there is some justification in their trying to protect themselves.'
Barghouti, who commands Arafat's Fatah organisation in the West Bank, has been at the helm of Palestinian protest. A short and rather burly man, he is regularly sighted behind the lines of stone throwers taking on the Israeli army at a checkpoint north of Ramallah. He also appears incessantly in the foreign and Israeli media to proclaim - no matter what diplomatic moves are afoot - that 'the intifada will continue'.
Israel has just as regularly denounced him as the mastermind of drive-by shooting attacks on Jewish settlers, and of inciting crowds of young Palestinian protesters.
If - as it appears - yesterday's missile attack does turn out to have been a botched assassination attempt on Barghouti, it will confirm Israel's resort to the strategies that guided its policies towards the Palestinians during their exile in Beirut and Tunis during the 1970s and 1980s, when several leading figures were assassinated.
However, an attempt on Barghouti carries even greater resonance. As Arafat's lieutenant in the West Bank, Barghouti was responsible during much of the 1990s for marshalling Palestinian popular support behind the peace accords. He met regularly with Israeli peace activists.
Israel tries to kill top Arafat aide in missile attack on car
Assassinations by Israel
July
'Omar Mansur Muhammad Mansur 28 year-old, resident of Balata R.C, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
'Othman 'Abd al-Qader Qatnani 25 year-old, resident of al-Judeidah, Jenin district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Ashraf Khalil 'Abd al-Mun'im 8 year-old, resident of al-Judeidah, Jenin district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed in an explosion in a building next to the clinic where he was with his brother.
Bilal Khalil 'Abd al-Mun'im 10 year-old, resident of al-Judeidah, Jenin district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed in an explosion in a building next to the clinic where he was with his brother.
Fahim Ibrahim Mustafa Dawabsheh 32 year-old, resident of Duma, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Jamal 'Abd a-Rahman Muhammad Mansur 41 year-old, resident of Balata R.C, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Jamal Salim Demony 43 year-old, resident of Ein Beit al-Maa R.C, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Muhammad 'Abd al-Karim al-Bishawi 28 year-old, resident of Balata, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Salah Derawazeh 37 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 25 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in his car on the main road from Nablus to Tulkarem.
'Omar S'adeh 43 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 17 Jul 2001 next to Bethlehem, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in an operation in which three additional Palestinians were killed.
Ishaq S'adeh 51 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 17 Jul 2001 next to Bethlehem, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed in an assassination attempt on his brother's life. Three other Palestinians were also killed in the incident.
Muhammad S'adeh 30 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 17 Jul 2001 next to Bethlehem, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed in an assassination attempt on his cousin's life. Three other Palestinians were also killed in the incident.
Taha al-'Aruj 37 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 17 Jul 2001 next to Bethlehem, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in an operation in which three additional Palestinians were killed.
Fawaz Sharif Badran 27 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 13 Jul 2001 next to Tulkarm, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed when he got into his car.
Muhammad Suliman Ahmad Bsharat 28 year-old, resident of Tammun, Tubas district, killed on 01 Jul 2001 next to Qabatiya, Jenin district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the assassination of three Islamic Jihad members.
Sameh Nur Thiab Abu Huneish 22 year-old, resident of Beit Dajan, Nablus district, killed on 01 Jul 2001 next to Qabatiya, Jenin district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the assassination of three Islamic Jihad members.
Walid Rasmi Sadeq Bsharat 20 year-old, resident of Tammun, Tubas district, killed on 01 Jul 2001 next to Qabatiya, Jenin district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the assassination of three Islamic Jihad members.
'Omar Mansur Muhammad Mansur 28 year-old, resident of Balata R.C, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
'Othman 'Abd al-Qader Qatnani 25 year-old, resident of al-Judeidah, Jenin district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Ashraf Khalil 'Abd al-Mun'im 8 year-old, resident of al-Judeidah, Jenin district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed in an explosion in a building next to the clinic where he was with his brother.
Bilal Khalil 'Abd al-Mun'im 10 year-old, resident of al-Judeidah, Jenin district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed in an explosion in a building next to the clinic where he was with his brother.
Fahim Ibrahim Mustafa Dawabsheh 32 year-old, resident of Duma, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Jamal 'Abd a-Rahman Muhammad Mansur 41 year-old, resident of Balata R.C, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Jamal Salim Demony 43 year-old, resident of Ein Beit al-Maa R.C, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Muhammad 'Abd al-Karim al-Bishawi 28 year-old, resident of Balata, Nablus district, killed on 31 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the bombing of a seven-story building.
Salah Derawazeh 37 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 25 Jul 2001 next to Nablus, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed while driving in his car on the main road from Nablus to Tulkarem.
'Omar S'adeh 43 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 17 Jul 2001 next to Bethlehem, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in an operation in which three additional Palestinians were killed.
Ishaq S'adeh 51 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 17 Jul 2001 next to Bethlehem, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed in an assassination attempt on his brother's life. Three other Palestinians were also killed in the incident.
Muhammad S'adeh 30 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 17 Jul 2001 next to Bethlehem, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed in an assassination attempt on his cousin's life. Three other Palestinians were also killed in the incident.
Taha al-'Aruj 37 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 17 Jul 2001 next to Bethlehem, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in an operation in which three additional Palestinians were killed.
Fawaz Sharif Badran 27 year-old, resident of Tulkarm, killed on 13 Jul 2001 next to Tulkarm, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed when he got into his car.
Muhammad Suliman Ahmad Bsharat 28 year-old, resident of Tammun, Tubas district, killed on 01 Jul 2001 next to Qabatiya, Jenin district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the assassination of three Islamic Jihad members.
Sameh Nur Thiab Abu Huneish 22 year-old, resident of Beit Dajan, Nablus district, killed on 01 Jul 2001 next to Qabatiya, Jenin district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the assassination of three Islamic Jihad members.
Walid Rasmi Sadeq Bsharat 20 year-old, resident of Tammun, Tubas district, killed on 01 Jul 2001 next to Qabatiya, Jenin district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed in the assassination of three Islamic Jihad members.
19 july 2001
Arafat 'not to blame' for talks failure
Robert Malley
Broken promises to the Palestinians made by Bill Clinton and the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak were as much to blame for the failure of last year's Camp David peace talks as Yasser Arafat's perceived intransigence, according to a former White House aide. In an article to be published in the New York Review of Books, Robert Malley, Mr Clinton's special adviser on Arab-Israeli affairs, challenges the conventional wisdom that Mr Arafat was solely responsible for the breakdown of the talks in July last year, and the return to violent conflict.
The article, co-authored with Hussein Agha, a Palestinian academic and occasional adviser to Mr Arafat, paints a more subtle picture, in which the Palestinian leader's attitude was coloured by Mr Barak's failure to honour previous agreements, and assurances Mr Clinton made before the talks which were not fulfilled.
The authors argue that Mr Barak decided, for domestic political reasons, not to fulfil pledges to relinquish Israeli control of villages around Jerusalem and to release political prisoners. He also allowed the rapid construction of new homes in Jewish settlements.
He did not want to alienate the Israeli right before a final comprehensive settlement - a mistake he believed his assassinated predecessor, Yitzhak Rabin, had made.
Consequently, Mr Arafat came to Camp David reluctantly, keen not to grant concessions in return for more unfulfilled promises. He was also suspicious of Mr Barak because of his decision to negotiate first withSyria, despite the fact that it had made no conciliatory gestures.
Mr Malley says Mr Clinton lost his temper with Mr Barak over the unfulfilled promises. He was particularly annoyed by Israel's failure to withdraw from three villages near Jerusalem - an undertaking the US president had personally conveyed to Mr Arafat.
Broken promises to the Palestinians made by Bill Clinton and the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak were as much to blame for the failure of last year's Camp David peace talks as Yasser Arafat's perceived intransigence, according to a former White House aide. In an article to be published in the New York Review of Books, Robert Malley, Mr Clinton's special adviser on Arab-Israeli affairs, challenges the conventional wisdom that Mr Arafat was solely responsible for the breakdown of the talks in July last year, and the return to violent conflict.
The article, co-authored with Hussein Agha, a Palestinian academic and occasional adviser to Mr Arafat, paints a more subtle picture, in which the Palestinian leader's attitude was coloured by Mr Barak's failure to honour previous agreements, and assurances Mr Clinton made before the talks which were not fulfilled.
The authors argue that Mr Barak decided, for domestic political reasons, not to fulfil pledges to relinquish Israeli control of villages around Jerusalem and to release political prisoners. He also allowed the rapid construction of new homes in Jewish settlements.
He did not want to alienate the Israeli right before a final comprehensive settlement - a mistake he believed his assassinated predecessor, Yitzhak Rabin, had made.
Consequently, Mr Arafat came to Camp David reluctantly, keen not to grant concessions in return for more unfulfilled promises. He was also suspicious of Mr Barak because of his decision to negotiate first withSyria, despite the fact that it had made no conciliatory gestures.
Mr Malley says Mr Clinton lost his temper with Mr Barak over the unfulfilled promises. He was particularly annoyed by Israel's failure to withdraw from three villages near Jerusalem - an undertaking the US president had personally conveyed to Mr Arafat.
6 july 2001
Israeli cabinet turmoil over toppling of Arafat
The Israeli government coalition is in turmoil after a row over the previously unthinkable option of whether to launch a massive military strike to topple the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. The option has been put on hold, though the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is said to be in favour if there is a further Palestinian "outrage" against Israel, according to the Hebrew press yesterday.
Two rightwing ministers, pushing for the harder line against Mr Arafat, said they would boycott the cabinet indefinitely because of its failure to agree a military strike.
The Labour foreign secretary, Shimon Peres, detested by the right for having signed the Oslo peace agreement with Mr Arafat eight years ago, resisted the move to escalate the military campaign.
But the Hebrew daily newspaper, Ma'ariv, reported that Mr Sharon favoured removing Mr Arafat, and quoted "confidants" of the prime minister as saying that the Palestinian leader was more trouble than he was worth for Israel.
It said the "confidants" predicted that a military strike would be made in the event of another Palestinian outrage, and that Mr Sharon had reached "the point of no return".
Questioned at a press conference in Berlin, on the first leg of a two-day trip to Germany and France, Mr Sharon denied the report: "We don't involve ourselves in the question of who stands at the head of another authority," he said. But he said Israel did have a problem with Mr Arafat's pattern of behaviour.
The toppling of Mr Arafat could prove too big a gamble for Israel. The anger of both the Palestinians and the international community would be enormous, and the chaos that would follow could benefit Islamic militant groups such as Hamas.
In radio interviews yesterday Mr Peres ridiculed his rightwing colleagues: "They [the ministers] have proposals, and afterwards air them on the radio, on how the uprising can be ended at the drop of a hat. I have the unpleasant duty to act as a brake."
Two rightwing ministers, Avigdor Lieberman, the national infrastructure minister, and Rehavam Ze'evi, the tourism minister, are to boycott cabinet meetings. Shlomo Benizri, the labour and social affairs minister, was also reported to have pushed for military action, but did not join the boycott.
During cabinet exchanges, one minister said: "Who could be worse than Arafat?" Mr Peres, who regards excessive military force as counter-productive, retorted: "Hamas."
But even the defence minis ter, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Mr Peres's Labour party colleague, said yesterday that Mr Arafat had completed his historic role as a leader of peace. There were senior Palestinians who were more pragmatic and with whom it would be possible to continue the peace process. He did not name names.
There is no obvious successor to Mr Arafat: the next leader could be one of his colleagues from his days in exile in Tunis and Beirut or, more likely, one of the younger generation born and brought up on the West Bank and Gaza.
Mr Ben-Eliezer predicted a lengthy military confrontation with the Palestinians.
Two rightwing ministers, pushing for the harder line against Mr Arafat, said they would boycott the cabinet indefinitely because of its failure to agree a military strike.
The Labour foreign secretary, Shimon Peres, detested by the right for having signed the Oslo peace agreement with Mr Arafat eight years ago, resisted the move to escalate the military campaign.
But the Hebrew daily newspaper, Ma'ariv, reported that Mr Sharon favoured removing Mr Arafat, and quoted "confidants" of the prime minister as saying that the Palestinian leader was more trouble than he was worth for Israel.
It said the "confidants" predicted that a military strike would be made in the event of another Palestinian outrage, and that Mr Sharon had reached "the point of no return".
Questioned at a press conference in Berlin, on the first leg of a two-day trip to Germany and France, Mr Sharon denied the report: "We don't involve ourselves in the question of who stands at the head of another authority," he said. But he said Israel did have a problem with Mr Arafat's pattern of behaviour.
The toppling of Mr Arafat could prove too big a gamble for Israel. The anger of both the Palestinians and the international community would be enormous, and the chaos that would follow could benefit Islamic militant groups such as Hamas.
In radio interviews yesterday Mr Peres ridiculed his rightwing colleagues: "They [the ministers] have proposals, and afterwards air them on the radio, on how the uprising can be ended at the drop of a hat. I have the unpleasant duty to act as a brake."
Two rightwing ministers, Avigdor Lieberman, the national infrastructure minister, and Rehavam Ze'evi, the tourism minister, are to boycott cabinet meetings. Shlomo Benizri, the labour and social affairs minister, was also reported to have pushed for military action, but did not join the boycott.
During cabinet exchanges, one minister said: "Who could be worse than Arafat?" Mr Peres, who regards excessive military force as counter-productive, retorted: "Hamas."
But even the defence minis ter, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Mr Peres's Labour party colleague, said yesterday that Mr Arafat had completed his historic role as a leader of peace. There were senior Palestinians who were more pragmatic and with whom it would be possible to continue the peace process. He did not name names.
There is no obvious successor to Mr Arafat: the next leader could be one of his colleagues from his days in exile in Tunis and Beirut or, more likely, one of the younger generation born and brought up on the West Bank and Gaza.
Mr Ben-Eliezer predicted a lengthy military confrontation with the Palestinians.
Assassinations by Israel
- June
- Ousamah Jawabreh 29 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 25 Jun 2001 next to Nablus, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed inside a phone booth by an explosion. Two brothers, aged 2 and 4, who were nearby were wounded in the incident.
- Ousamah Jawabreh 29 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 25 Jun 2001 next to Nablus, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed inside a phone booth by an explosion. Two brothers, aged 2 and 4, who were nearby were wounded in the incident.
- May
- 'Alam Nasri 'Abd a-Razeq al-Jaludi 26 year-old, resident of Faqqu'a, Jenin district, killed on 12 May 2001 next to Jenin, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed when he was in the car during the assassination of Mu'atam a-Sabah.
- Mu'atasem Muhammad a-Sabah 26 year-old, resident of Jenin R.C, killed on 12 May 2001 next to Jenin, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed when missiles hit the car he was riding in.
- Ahmad Khalil Ass'ad 38 year-old, resident of Artas, Bethlehem district, killed on 05 May 2001 next to Artas, Bethlehem district, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed near his house.
- April Iyad Mahmoud Nayef Hardan 27 year-old, resident of Araba, Jenin district, killed on 05 Apr 2001 next to Jenin, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: Killed when the public telephone he was speaking on exploded.
17 apr 2001
Upset at Sharon son's visit to Arafat
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, looked at risk of opening a rift with his rightwing constituency yesterday because he used his son as a secret emissary to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. The prime minister's use of his businessman son, Omri, 36, who is regarded as the mastermind of Mr Sharon's election victory last February, raised hackles in expected quarters: the foreign ministry, legal circles, and the left. But Mr Sharon is also under fire from far-right members of his coalition.
On Sunday, Israel's attorney general, Elyakim Rubinstein, told Mr Sharon that sending his son to talk to Mr Arafat violated the spirit of a ban on government officials giving jobs to their relatives. The Omri Sharon met the Palestinian leader twice this month, and met Mr Arafat's financial adviser in Vienna in January.
"Sending a family member on diplomatic missions is not acceptable in a properly conducted state," Mr Rubinstein said.
Mr Sharon argues that sending his son would be seen as a demonstration of his sincerity by Mr Arafat, who shares his prediliction for mixing the personal with the political.
"Sharon said something very interesting: that he sent his son to Mr Arafat because in the Middle East that kind of gesture is appreciated by leaders," said a rightwing author, Yossi Klein Halevy.
But this nod to Middle Eastern custom was not appreciated by members of Mr Sharon's coalition who accused him yesterday of breaking an election pledge not to negotiate with the Palestinians until they end their uprising.
On Sunday, Israel's attorney general, Elyakim Rubinstein, told Mr Sharon that sending his son to talk to Mr Arafat violated the spirit of a ban on government officials giving jobs to their relatives. The Omri Sharon met the Palestinian leader twice this month, and met Mr Arafat's financial adviser in Vienna in January.
"Sending a family member on diplomatic missions is not acceptable in a properly conducted state," Mr Rubinstein said.
Mr Sharon argues that sending his son would be seen as a demonstration of his sincerity by Mr Arafat, who shares his prediliction for mixing the personal with the political.
"Sharon said something very interesting: that he sent his son to Mr Arafat because in the Middle East that kind of gesture is appreciated by leaders," said a rightwing author, Yossi Klein Halevy.
But this nod to Middle Eastern custom was not appreciated by members of Mr Sharon's coalition who accused him yesterday of breaking an election pledge not to negotiate with the Palestinians until they end their uprising.
29 mrt 2001
Israelis blast Arafat's HQ
'Last chance of peace gone' after two killed in attack by helicopter gunships as Sharon retaliates.
Israeli army helicopters attacked the headquarters of Yasser Arafat's elite forces last night after a day when another suicide bomber claimed the lives of two teenagers. Witnesses said helicopter gunships fired missiles on Gaza and the West Bank city of Ramallah, setting buildings and cars on fire, knocking out electricity and killing at least two Palestinians in Ramallah. Dozens were wounded.
One of the dead was a bodyguard to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. The other a civilian woman.
An adviser to Mr Arafat said the retaliatory strikes had destroyed the last chances of peace. "This is a dangerous escalation," Nabil Abu Rdainah, who was with Mr Arafat in the Jordanian capital, Amman, said. "We hold the Israeli government fully responsible."
A military spokesman told Israeli television that the helicopters had fired on six targets in the Gaza Strip, including installations of Mr Arafat's Force 17 in the Jabaliya refugee camp and a police installation in Deir al-Baleh in the south. In Ramallah, tanks and helicopters struck a single target, again a building of Force 17.
"Our task is to hit directly at the sources of fire," the spokesman said. Palestinian officials said the Israeli army had warned them to evacuate the headquarters of Mr Arafat's administration in Ramallah, signalling an imminent attack.
Last night's hour-long attacks were the physical expression of Mr Sharon's regular accusations against Force 17. He has repeatedly blamed the unit, and by implication Mr Arafat, for drive-by shootings of Jewish settlers, and the firing on their enclaves by Palestinian militants.
He also blamed Mr Arafat for the suicide mission that killed two schoolboys yesterday morning - which the armed wing of the Islamist militant organisation Hamas said it carried out - because his administration had freed many jailed bombers.
"To my sorrow, despite the fact that many in the world thought a new leader had arisen here, to my sorrow he [Arafat] has remained a leader of terror," Mr Sharon said yesterday in parliament, hours before ordering the attacks.
Last night's reprisal raids had been anticipated. Since a sniper's bullet killed a baby girl on Monday in the extremist Jewish enclave inside the West Bank city of Hebron, Mr Sharon has faced a growing clamour to retaliate swiftly and harshly against commanders of the Palestinian uprising.
The pressure increased with two bombings in Jerusalem on Tuesday, and yesterday morning's suicide attack in central Israel. The cry for revenge put Mr Sharon in a peculiar position: the hardliner with a 50-year history of dealing harshly with Israel's Arab neighbours was being accused of going soft since his installation as prime minister three weeks ago.
It also showed up his own helplessness in soothing Israelis' anxieties on security, the same fears that saw the former prime minister Ehud Barak trounced at the polls last month.
"Everyone who sees these things that have occurred over the course of 36 hours understands exactly what kind of situation we are in," Mr Sharon told Israel Radio earlier yesterday. Then he promised: "If our deterrence has been slightly eroded it will soon be fully restored."
Most analysts - and Mr Sharon's advisers, who claimed he could not be provoked into intemperate action - had predicted that he would hold off for the duration of an Arab summit in Jordan.
The meeting in Amman, at which the Palestinians sought to solidify regional support behind their six-month uprising, ended yesterday afternoon, and Mr Sharon wasted no time in exacting punishment. The helicopter gunships began clattering over Ramallah within minutes of the convening of an emergency meeting of his security cabinet, which was expected to chart Israel's next course of action in response to a surge in Palestinian attacks.
Mr Sharon is now expected to consider further measures. In opposition, he repeatedly opposed Mr Barak's policy of bombing raids on Palestinian police installations, denouncing them as ineffective.
But Mr Sharon will have to weigh his next steps carefully. For all of his efforts to implicate Mr Arafat directly in the bombing attacks inside the borders of the Jewish state, and the drive-by shootings that have terrified Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza, last night's missions remain extremely controversial in the international community, and Mr Sharon knows it.
In the morning, he held a telephone conversation with President George Bush, part of a broader strategy in which Israel is seeking diplomatic sanction for a resort to greater military might to try to end the uprising.
Israeli army helicopters attacked the headquarters of Yasser Arafat's elite forces last night after a day when another suicide bomber claimed the lives of two teenagers. Witnesses said helicopter gunships fired missiles on Gaza and the West Bank city of Ramallah, setting buildings and cars on fire, knocking out electricity and killing at least two Palestinians in Ramallah. Dozens were wounded.
One of the dead was a bodyguard to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. The other a civilian woman.
An adviser to Mr Arafat said the retaliatory strikes had destroyed the last chances of peace. "This is a dangerous escalation," Nabil Abu Rdainah, who was with Mr Arafat in the Jordanian capital, Amman, said. "We hold the Israeli government fully responsible."
A military spokesman told Israeli television that the helicopters had fired on six targets in the Gaza Strip, including installations of Mr Arafat's Force 17 in the Jabaliya refugee camp and a police installation in Deir al-Baleh in the south. In Ramallah, tanks and helicopters struck a single target, again a building of Force 17.
"Our task is to hit directly at the sources of fire," the spokesman said. Palestinian officials said the Israeli army had warned them to evacuate the headquarters of Mr Arafat's administration in Ramallah, signalling an imminent attack.
Last night's hour-long attacks were the physical expression of Mr Sharon's regular accusations against Force 17. He has repeatedly blamed the unit, and by implication Mr Arafat, for drive-by shootings of Jewish settlers, and the firing on their enclaves by Palestinian militants.
He also blamed Mr Arafat for the suicide mission that killed two schoolboys yesterday morning - which the armed wing of the Islamist militant organisation Hamas said it carried out - because his administration had freed many jailed bombers.
"To my sorrow, despite the fact that many in the world thought a new leader had arisen here, to my sorrow he [Arafat] has remained a leader of terror," Mr Sharon said yesterday in parliament, hours before ordering the attacks.
Last night's reprisal raids had been anticipated. Since a sniper's bullet killed a baby girl on Monday in the extremist Jewish enclave inside the West Bank city of Hebron, Mr Sharon has faced a growing clamour to retaliate swiftly and harshly against commanders of the Palestinian uprising.
The pressure increased with two bombings in Jerusalem on Tuesday, and yesterday morning's suicide attack in central Israel. The cry for revenge put Mr Sharon in a peculiar position: the hardliner with a 50-year history of dealing harshly with Israel's Arab neighbours was being accused of going soft since his installation as prime minister three weeks ago.
It also showed up his own helplessness in soothing Israelis' anxieties on security, the same fears that saw the former prime minister Ehud Barak trounced at the polls last month.
"Everyone who sees these things that have occurred over the course of 36 hours understands exactly what kind of situation we are in," Mr Sharon told Israel Radio earlier yesterday. Then he promised: "If our deterrence has been slightly eroded it will soon be fully restored."
Most analysts - and Mr Sharon's advisers, who claimed he could not be provoked into intemperate action - had predicted that he would hold off for the duration of an Arab summit in Jordan.
The meeting in Amman, at which the Palestinians sought to solidify regional support behind their six-month uprising, ended yesterday afternoon, and Mr Sharon wasted no time in exacting punishment. The helicopter gunships began clattering over Ramallah within minutes of the convening of an emergency meeting of his security cabinet, which was expected to chart Israel's next course of action in response to a surge in Palestinian attacks.
Mr Sharon is now expected to consider further measures. In opposition, he repeatedly opposed Mr Barak's policy of bombing raids on Palestinian police installations, denouncing them as ineffective.
But Mr Sharon will have to weigh his next steps carefully. For all of his efforts to implicate Mr Arafat directly in the bombing attacks inside the borders of the Jewish state, and the drive-by shootings that have terrified Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza, last night's missions remain extremely controversial in the international community, and Mr Sharon knows it.
In the morning, he held a telephone conversation with President George Bush, part of a broader strategy in which Israel is seeking diplomatic sanction for a resort to greater military might to try to end the uprising.
10 mrt 2001
Sharon invites Arafat to meeting
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who famously said he would never shake the hand of Yasser Arafat, has invited the Palestinian leader to talks. The offer, extended after Mr Sharon's first full day as prime minister yesterday, makes no mention of his repeated inistance that Mr Arafat must rein in the uprising before the negotiations can resume.
His message reads: "I hope we can find a way of establishing personal contacts soon, in order to put an end to the cycle of bloodshed, violence and incitement, and to renew the economic and security cooperation."
Prime ministerial aides insisted that the offer of "personal contacts, or channels of communications" did not represent a retreat by Mr Sharon.
"A meeting is not negotiations," his spokesman, Ra'anan Gissin, said. "That will not happen. It is simply a meeting in order to explain Mr Sharon's position."
That explanation may not satisfy Israelis, particularly those who voted for Mr Sharon expecting him to live up to his reputation as a warrior and crack down hard on the Palestinians.
Mr Sharon outlined his three conditions for resuming negotiations in a telephone conver sation with Mr Arafat two weeks ago, and made his refusal to hold talks under fire the central plank in his election campaign.
The apparent softening of his stance coincides with the first report of disagreement with his foreign minister, Shimon Peres.
Officials said Mr Peres was pushing for the lifting of Israel's siege of the West Bank and Gaza, contradicting Mr Sharon's refusal to make concessions before the intifada ends.
Such diplomatic shifts have been under way among the Palestinians as well. In his message of congratulations to Mr Sharon on Wednesday, Mr Arafat appeared to soften his own conditions for the resumption of negotiations.
Yesterday senior Palestinian officials gave a cautious welcome to the Mr Sharon's offer. But Mr Arafat must consider public sentiment. Although they are desperate for Israel to lift its siege, ordinary Palestinians want to see some return on the enormous human cost of the intifada.
• The new defence minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, was not the target of a Palestinian sniper attack on a recent visit to Gaza, as previously suspected. The Israeli army said the shot heard was apparently "aimed at a nearby base and had no connection with his visit".
His message reads: "I hope we can find a way of establishing personal contacts soon, in order to put an end to the cycle of bloodshed, violence and incitement, and to renew the economic and security cooperation."
Prime ministerial aides insisted that the offer of "personal contacts, or channels of communications" did not represent a retreat by Mr Sharon.
"A meeting is not negotiations," his spokesman, Ra'anan Gissin, said. "That will not happen. It is simply a meeting in order to explain Mr Sharon's position."
That explanation may not satisfy Israelis, particularly those who voted for Mr Sharon expecting him to live up to his reputation as a warrior and crack down hard on the Palestinians.
Mr Sharon outlined his three conditions for resuming negotiations in a telephone conver sation with Mr Arafat two weeks ago, and made his refusal to hold talks under fire the central plank in his election campaign.
The apparent softening of his stance coincides with the first report of disagreement with his foreign minister, Shimon Peres.
Officials said Mr Peres was pushing for the lifting of Israel's siege of the West Bank and Gaza, contradicting Mr Sharon's refusal to make concessions before the intifada ends.
Such diplomatic shifts have been under way among the Palestinians as well. In his message of congratulations to Mr Sharon on Wednesday, Mr Arafat appeared to soften his own conditions for the resumption of negotiations.
Yesterday senior Palestinian officials gave a cautious welcome to the Mr Sharon's offer. But Mr Arafat must consider public sentiment. Although they are desperate for Israel to lift its siege, ordinary Palestinians want to see some return on the enormous human cost of the intifada.
• The new defence minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, was not the target of a Palestinian sniper attack on a recent visit to Gaza, as previously suspected. The Israeli army said the shot heard was apparently "aimed at a nearby base and had no connection with his visit".
Assassinations by Israel
February
Mahmoud Suliman al-Madni 25 year-old, resident of Balata R.C, Nablus district, killed on 19 Feb 2001 next to Balata R.C, Nablus district, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information:
Mahmoud Suliman al-Madni 25 year-old, resident of Balata R.C, Nablus district, killed on 19 Feb 2001 next to Balata R.C, Nablus district, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information:
14 febr 2001
Israel kills Arafat's man
Masood Hussain Ayyad "Abu Khader" 54
Fury as senior guard to the Palestinian leader is killed.
The Israeli army struck at the heart of Yasser Arafat's administration by assassinating an officer in his personal security guard yesterday, fuelling the escalation of violence that began with the election of the hardliner Ariel Sharon as the Jewish state's prime minister.
Massoud Ayad, 54, a lieutenant colonel in Mr Arafat's Force 17 elite body guard, was killed by a volley of rockets fired from two helicopters that had been tracking his white Honda Civic along a main road in the Jabaliya refugee camp, north of Gaza City. The car was reduced to a smouldering wreck, and four bystanders were injured.
Ayad joins more than 20 victims of Israel's official policy of assassinating Palestinians it accuses of attacks on soldiers and civilians. But never before has Israel struck so deeply into Mr Arafat's administration.
All of the operations were sanctioned by the outgoing prime minister, Ehud Barak, who yesterday sent "heartfelt congratulations" to the army for killing Ayad. The murder of Ayad - and the death of a Palestinian teenager shot through the heart by an Israeli sniper in the Gaza Strip yesterday - came as Mr Sharon was finalising a deal for a national unity government with Mr Barak's Labour party.
Mr Barak said Israel would continue picking off Palestinian leaders. "It is a clear message to those who plan to attack Israelis, that they will not get away with it. The long arm of the Israel defence forces will call them to account," he said.
The Palestinian Authority said Israel was guilty of war crimes. "Israel is a state above the law," the justice minister, Freih Abu Medein, declared.
Ayad was the first Palestinian official to be assassinated since December 31, when a middle-aged dentist and a leader of Mr Arafat's Fatah movement, Thabet Thabet, was sprayed with machine-gun fire in a mafia-style hit in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Thabet had been closely associated with several Israeli peace activists since the late 1980s and his death sparked international outrage.
The Israeli army yesterday called a press conference to list a series of operations Ayad allegedly conducted on behalf of Hizbullah, the Shia Muslim organisation which led Lebanese resistance to Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon.
A spokesman, Brigadier Ron Kitrey, said Ayad had been responsible for several attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in the Gaza Strip since December 24 last year. They included firing a home-made mortar bomb which damaged the roof of a house in the Jewish settlement of Netzarim on January 29, and a second mortar attack on the enclave on February 10, in which the bomb fell in an open area.
He accused him of planning to kidnap Israeli troops, and of drug smuggling. "We had no choice but to exclude him from the list of salaries in Hizbullah," he said.
Palestinian analysts, however, said that it was highly unlikely that Mr Arafat would have tolerated the infiltration of his personal protection unit by a man with dual loyalties to his administration, as well as to Hizbullah.
"Nothing they say can legitimise this act - period," said Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza. "This is illegal, this is unprovoked, this is a crime, this is against international standards."
As news of Ayad's death spread through Gaza, hundreds of people gathered around the wreck of his car, chanting "Death to Israel". A steady stream of mourners filed past his corpse in Gaza's Shifa hospital.
Ayad was well-known in Gaza, and his job was a reward for 30 years as an activist in the Fatah movement, during which he did several stints in Israeli jails. Unlike 80% of res idents in the territory, he was a local man and not a refugee.
His burial today is bound to ratchet up the violence still further. But his killing will also sow terror and suspicion in Palestinian areas.
"All the Palestinian people now are worried about spies, not just in the Palestinian Authority, but in our families and among the people who can give information about anyone," Ayad's nephew, Motasem Ayad, said.
In Bethlehem and Ramallah, the leaders of Fatah militias have taken to changing their hideouts every night.
Fury as senior guard to the Palestinian leader is killed.
The Israeli army struck at the heart of Yasser Arafat's administration by assassinating an officer in his personal security guard yesterday, fuelling the escalation of violence that began with the election of the hardliner Ariel Sharon as the Jewish state's prime minister.
Massoud Ayad, 54, a lieutenant colonel in Mr Arafat's Force 17 elite body guard, was killed by a volley of rockets fired from two helicopters that had been tracking his white Honda Civic along a main road in the Jabaliya refugee camp, north of Gaza City. The car was reduced to a smouldering wreck, and four bystanders were injured.
Ayad joins more than 20 victims of Israel's official policy of assassinating Palestinians it accuses of attacks on soldiers and civilians. But never before has Israel struck so deeply into Mr Arafat's administration.
All of the operations were sanctioned by the outgoing prime minister, Ehud Barak, who yesterday sent "heartfelt congratulations" to the army for killing Ayad. The murder of Ayad - and the death of a Palestinian teenager shot through the heart by an Israeli sniper in the Gaza Strip yesterday - came as Mr Sharon was finalising a deal for a national unity government with Mr Barak's Labour party.
Mr Barak said Israel would continue picking off Palestinian leaders. "It is a clear message to those who plan to attack Israelis, that they will not get away with it. The long arm of the Israel defence forces will call them to account," he said.
The Palestinian Authority said Israel was guilty of war crimes. "Israel is a state above the law," the justice minister, Freih Abu Medein, declared.
Ayad was the first Palestinian official to be assassinated since December 31, when a middle-aged dentist and a leader of Mr Arafat's Fatah movement, Thabet Thabet, was sprayed with machine-gun fire in a mafia-style hit in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Thabet had been closely associated with several Israeli peace activists since the late 1980s and his death sparked international outrage.
The Israeli army yesterday called a press conference to list a series of operations Ayad allegedly conducted on behalf of Hizbullah, the Shia Muslim organisation which led Lebanese resistance to Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon.
A spokesman, Brigadier Ron Kitrey, said Ayad had been responsible for several attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in the Gaza Strip since December 24 last year. They included firing a home-made mortar bomb which damaged the roof of a house in the Jewish settlement of Netzarim on January 29, and a second mortar attack on the enclave on February 10, in which the bomb fell in an open area.
He accused him of planning to kidnap Israeli troops, and of drug smuggling. "We had no choice but to exclude him from the list of salaries in Hizbullah," he said.
Palestinian analysts, however, said that it was highly unlikely that Mr Arafat would have tolerated the infiltration of his personal protection unit by a man with dual loyalties to his administration, as well as to Hizbullah.
"Nothing they say can legitimise this act - period," said Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza. "This is illegal, this is unprovoked, this is a crime, this is against international standards."
As news of Ayad's death spread through Gaza, hundreds of people gathered around the wreck of his car, chanting "Death to Israel". A steady stream of mourners filed past his corpse in Gaza's Shifa hospital.
Ayad was well-known in Gaza, and his job was a reward for 30 years as an activist in the Fatah movement, during which he did several stints in Israeli jails. Unlike 80% of res idents in the territory, he was a local man and not a refugee.
His burial today is bound to ratchet up the violence still further. But his killing will also sow terror and suspicion in Palestinian areas.
"All the Palestinian people now are worried about spies, not just in the Palestinian Authority, but in our families and among the people who can give information about anyone," Ayad's nephew, Motasem Ayad, said.
In Bethlehem and Ramallah, the leaders of Fatah militias have taken to changing their hideouts every night.
Assassinations by Israel
- 2000
- December
- Thabet Ahmad Thabet 50 year-old, resident of Ramin, Tulkarm district, killed on 31 Dec 2000 next to Tulkarm, by gunfire bullets fired from a sniper, He was the object of a targeted killing.
- Saed Ibrahim Taha al-Kharuf 35 year-old, resident of Nablus, killed on 14 Dec 2000 next to Burin, Nablus district, by gunfire bullets, He was the object of a targeted killing.
- A'bbas 'Othman Ahmad al-'Aawiwi 25 year-old, resident of Hebron, killed on 13 Dec 2000 next to Hebron, by gunfire from a sniper, He was the object of a targeted killing.
- Yusef Ahmad Mahmoud Abu Sawi 27 year-old, resident of Artas, Bethlehem district, killed on 12 Dec 2000 next to al-Khader, Bethlehem district, by gunfire from a sniper, He was the object of a targeted killing.
- Anwar Mahmoud Ahmad Himran 28 year-old, resident of Araba, Jenin district, killed on 11 Dec 2000 next to Nablus, by gunfire from a sniper, He was the object of a targeted killing.
- Ibrahim 'Abd al-Karim Bani 'Odeh 33 year-old, resident of Tammun, Tubas district, killed on 23 Nov 2000 next to Nablus, by explosion, He was the object of a targeted killing.
- 'Aziza Muhammad Danun 52 year-old, resident of Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, killed on 09 Nov 2000 next to Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed during the assassination of Hussein Abayat.
- Hussein Muhammad Salim 'Abayiat 34 year-old, resident of Bethlehem, killed on 09 Nov 2000 next to Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter, He was the object of a targeted killing. Additional information: A commander in the military wing of Fatah, he was killed by helicopter missile fire; two bystanders were also killed in the attack.
- Rahmeh Rashid Shahin 52 year-old, resident of Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, killed on 09 Nov 2000 next to Beit Sahur, Bethlehem district, by gunfire missile fired from a helicopter during the course of a targeted killing. Did not participate in hostilities when killed Additional information: Killed during the assassination of Hussein Abayat.