Israel Plants Flag in Arafat's HQ

22/09/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Occupation Army Kills 4 Palestinian Protesters in Ramallah, Tulkarm & Nablus||Israel Threatens to Blow up Arafat Compound Unless So-called 'Wanted Activists' Surrender||Palestinians Describe Israeli Surrender Demand as 'Pretext', Real Objective, They Say, 'Humilation of Arafat'||Occupation Army Intends to Make Conditions So Unbearable at Compound that Arafat Leaves into Exile||Arafat Appeals for Resistance Groups to End Attacks against Civilians Inside Israel, Says Ready for Peace but Not for Capitulation||In Jericho, Protesters Demand Release of 6 Prisoners Under US & British Supervision||Arafat & 200 of his Entourage Confined to 4 Rooms||France & EU Demand End of Operation, US Remains Silent||Mubarak Calls on Bush to Intervene, Jesse Jackson & Amr Moussa Denied Phone Access to White House|| STORY: Israeli occupation soldiers planted the Israeli flag in Yasser Arafat's compound Saturday and demolished more of his besieged offices, prompting thousands of Palestinians to pour into the streets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in protest. Four demonstrators were killed by occupation army fire.

In the largely demolished compound, Israel threatened several times over loudspeakers to blow up the building where Arafat is holed up unless about 50 wanted men inside surrendered. The Palestinian leader refused to hand over members of his entourage.

The raid - the third on the compound since March - was launched late Thursday in retaliation for a Resistance bombing on a Tel Aviv bus that killed five Israelis and a Jewish seminary student from Scotland.

Israeli television cited occupation army officials saying the assault aims to make conditions so unbearable that the Palestinian leader leaves into exile.

Arafat, who is confined to four rooms on the second floor of his office, appealed to Resistance Groups Saturday to halt attacks on Israel. Arafat spent the day making telephone calls and faxes from a conference room in the battered building, where a total of about 200 people are holed up.

The United States and the European Union have urged Israel to show restraint and have been trying to defuse the crisis. The Bush Administration remained publicly silent Saturday about the events in Ramallah.

Early Sunday, Arafat's Fatah movement led marches to protest the siege in several West Bank towns, defying Israeli military curfews.

In Ramallah, just a few miles from Arafat's compound, troops fired tear gas and live bullets to disperse hundreds of men, women and children chanting "long live Arafat, long live Palestine." Two protesters were killed by army fire, hospital officials said.

Two more people were killed in the towns of Tulkarem and Nablus. In Tulkarem, gunmen traded fire with Israeli troops. In the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, about 5,000 people joined the protests, some firing submachine guns into the air and holding up Arafat pictures.

In the West Bank town of Jericho, about 400 protesters marched to a local prison, demanding the release of six men held under U.S. and British supervision as part of a deal that prompted Israel to lift a 34-day siege of Arafat's compound in May.

Four of the prisoners were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine convicted by a Palestinian court of killing Israel's Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. The other two were PFLP leader Ahmed Saadat and a sixth man suspected of organizing an arms smuggling operation. The Israeli siege was in response to a Passover suicide attack that killed 28 people, mostly elderly Israelis.

The foreign monitors of the prisoners threatened to leave, saying they felt endangered by the mob, according to security officials in Jericho.

ARAFAT & 200 OF HIS ENTOURAGE CONFINED TO 4 ROOMS

Arafat and dozens of aides and security guards were confined to four rooms on the second floor of one wing after a tank shell destroyed the stairs to the third floor. Several more shells hit the building, and one dusted Arafat with debris.

A picture taken by his personal photographer and released Saturday showed a grim-faced Arafat wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses, poring over papers at his desk, with several aides at his side. Beside him was a holstered pistol with belt, next to a desk calculator, a box of tissues and two bottles of mineral water.

Those trapped with him said Israeli occupation troops demolished water pipes, the main kitchen and the pantry, but that there was enough water from rooftop tanks and stored food to last a few days.

FRANCE AND EU DEMAND END OF OPERATION, MUBARAK CALLS ON BUSH TO INTERVENE BUT WASHINGTON REMAINS SILENT

France demanded Israel halt the operation, saying it was unacceptable. The European Union's foreign policy coordinator, Javier Solana, said the raid would instead efforts to reform the Palestinian Authority.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called on President Bush to intervene immediately to stop the Israeli operation, the Middle East News Agency reported.

JACKSON & MOUSSA DENIED PHONE ACCESS TO WHITE HOUSE

In the United States, the Rev. Jesse Jackson told The Associated Press that he telephoned Arafat and spoke with him "directly."

Jackson said both he and the secretary general of the Arab league had been trying, without success, to telephone President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powel to register their opposition to the Israeli action.

"President Bush cannot give sanction to silence," Jackson said.

REAL OBJECTIVE 'HUMILATION OF ARAFAT'

Palestinian officials said Israel's demand for the surrender of wanted men, including West Bank intelligence chief Tawfik Tirawi, was just a pretext, and that Sharon's real objective is to humiliate Arafat.

Raanan Gissin, a Sharon adviser, left open the possibility that troops would stay on even if the wanted men surrender. "First of all, we want those people in our hands," he said. "Then we will consider what action, what further action we will have to take in order to ensure and defend our citizens."

In His published statement, Arafat did not directly address the surrender of the wanted men, though his aides have said they would not be turned over. "We are ready for peace, not for capitulation."

Two senior Palestinians who have been in contact with Israeli officials said Israel never formally demanded the surrender. However, a third official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the issue was raised by Sharon in a phone call

PHOTO CAPTION

As smoke billows over Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound behind them, Israeli occupation soldiers atop an armored vehicle help guard the perimeter around the besieged leader's headquarters, in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2002. Overnight, and during the past two days, Israeli occupation troops have used explosions and bulldozers to demolish many parts of Arafat's compound. The Israeli Government says its latest actions on the compound are an attempt to futher isolate Arafat, whom it holds personally responsible for last weeks Resistance bombings inside Israel. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsle