-Caveat Lector- http://news.excite.com/news/ap/011204/05/news-israel-palestinians
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Israeli Gunships Strike Arafat's HQ Updated: Tue, Dec 04 5:07 AM EST By HADEEL WAHDAN, Associated Press Writer RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Israeli helicopter gunships attacked Yasser Arafat's headquarters in this West Bank town on Tuesday and three missiles hit just a few yards from the Palestinian leader's office, witnesses said. Arafat was present during the attack, but no one was injured, officials said. Palestinian officials fled the compound in panic. Palestinian officials said Arafat did not leave the building. The air strike came just hours after Israel's Cabinet branded Arafat's government a supporter of terrorism and singled out two organizations affiliated with the Palestinian leader as terror groups - the Tanzim militia and Force 17, a branch of the Palestinian security forces. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has declared an all-out "war on terror" in response to suicide bombings and shooting attacks by Islamic militants on Israelis that killed 26 and wounded nearly 200 during the weekend. Israel's reprisals were aimed at symbols of Arafat's rule. They effectively grounded the Palestinian leader and confined him to Ramallah. On Monday, Israeli missiles damaged Arafat's three helicopters parked near his seaside office in the Gaza Strip. Early Tuesday, Israeli troops tore up the landing strip at Gaza International Airport. An adviser to Sharon, speaking just before Tuesday's attack on the Arafat, said Israel was not targeting Arafat directly. "We have stated publicly that we do not intend to harm him personally," said the adviser, Danny Ayalon. "But since he is responsible for the wave of terrorism which has been going on, we had to hit something close to him personally." The Cabinet declaration means that Israeli officials can only meet with members of the Palestinian Authority for the purpose of obtaining a cease-fire, Ayalon said. Another adviser, Raanan Gissin, said the declaration was intended to step up pressure on Arafat to crack down hard on militants and prevent attacks on Israel, but was not an opening signal for a major assault on the Palestinian Authority. "We'll use all the measures at our disposal with greater frequency, with more impunity, to put pressure on Arafat to comply," Gissin said. Ministers from the moderate Labor party left the Cabinet meeting in protest before the vote was taken. Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh hinted that Labor might quit the coalition, saying that "the unity government is important to us ... but not at every price." Labor favors rehabilitating ties with Arafat. Israel's retaliation began Monday afternoon when helicopter gunships destroyed or damaged three helicopters in Gaza City. F-16 warplanes also bombed Palestinian security installations in the West Bank town of Jenin. Early Tuesday, Israeli troops tore up the landing strip of Gaza International Airport, a symbol of fledgling Palestinian sovereignty. The airport had been a vital link between the Palestinians and the rest of the world since it was opened in 1998. It was closed to regular traffic for most of the past 14 months of fighting, but Arafat had been able to use it for his frequent trips abroad. With his helicopters and the airport unusable, it appeared that Arafat was confined to Ramallah. There is no land route since Israel has been blockading all West Bank towns since the weekend suicide bombings. Overnight, Israel sent tanks into parts of Ramallah and the West Bank town of Nablus. In Ramallah, two tanks came within about 800 yards of Arafat's compound in town. It was not immediately clear whether the Palestinian Authority would continue rounding up suspected Islamic militants following the Israeli strikes. In a sweep that began Sunday night, Palestinian security forces had detained about 130 members of the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups. Arafat also declared a state of emergency. Palestinian official Tayeb Abdel Rahim warned that the Israeli attacks "will push some of us to reassess this position." Jibril Rajoub, the Palestinian security chief in the West Bank, warned the decisions of the Israeli Cabinet will "push us and the situation into more violence and bloodshed." In overnight violence, an armed Palestinian was killed and another wounded in a clash with Israeli troops on the outskirts of Nablus, Palestinian officials said. Both men belonged to Arafat's Fatah group, the officials said. Sharon charged in a televised speech late Monday that Arafat "is responsible for everything that is happening here" and "has chosen the path of terror (to) try to make diplomatic gains through murder." However, Sharon stopped short of placing Arafat in Israel's gunsights or threatening to bring down his regime, despite calls for just such steps by some of Sharon's own Cabinet ministers. The Palestinians asked Israel to hold off on retaliation for 76 hours to allow them a chance to take steps, said Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Interviewed on CNN's "Larry King Live" program, Peres said Israel's strikes "should not stop them from continuing to do what they started to do." The U.S. administration did not criticize the Israeli military action in Palestinian areas, as it has before. In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "the President's point of view is Israel is a sovereign power. 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