Sharon Pledges Gaza Offensive as Tanks Surround Arafat's Compound
An Israeli tank blocks the road leading to Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah Monday.
Monday, June 24, 2002
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli forces clamped down harder on the West Bank Monday as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to widen his military offensive against Palestinian extremists to the Gaza Strip, where a helicopter strike killed four Hamas members.
The latest turbulence, including the third Israeli encirclement this month of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, came hours before President Bush delivered an eagerly awaited Mideast policy address.
Bush offered guidelines for a future Palestinian state in a speech that was postponed last week because of escalating violence. Three major Palestinian attacks left more than 30 Israeli civilians dead, and prompted a new and broad invasion of the West Bank called "Operation Determined Path."
Speaking at the White House, Bush urged the Palestinians to replace Arafat as their leader and adopt "a practicing democracy" that could produce an independent state within three years.
Elections should be held by the end of the year for a legislature with normal authority and there also must be a constitution, Bush said as he set stiff conditions for a Palestinian state.
Even before the address, the presidential plan for a provisional Palestinian state had received a cool response in the Mideast.
Sharon has said it is not the time for any sort of Palestinian state because of the Palestinian violence, and Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo says the United States must pressure Israel to pull back its forces before any peace initiatives.
Israeli forces now control six of the eight main Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank: Jenin, Nablus, Qalqiliya, Ramallah, Tulkarem and Bethlehem.
Jericho, which has been quiet during most of the 21 months of Mideast fighting, and Hebron, where the Israeli army maintains a permanent presence in part of the city, have not been taken over.
At least 600,000 Palestinians in the West Bank are confined to their homes by army curfews, although restrictions were briefly lifted in Nablus and Qalqiliya so residents could shop and go to school.
A major six-week military offensive earlier this year that was aimed at wiping out militias behind terror attacks also focused on the West Bank, leaving the Gaza Strip -- where top militia leaders are based -- largely unscathed. This time, however, Sharon warned Gaza would not be spared.
"We are preparing massive activity against Hamas in the Strip," Sharon said, adding that it had begun with the Israeli helicopter missile strikes on two cars Monday morning in the southern Gaza Strip. He did not say what might follow.
Six Palestinians were killed in the missile strikes in Rafah and five Palestinians were injured. Four of the dead belonged to Hamas, the group said.
Israel said it targeted and killed Yasser Rizik, a "senior Hamas activist" who was allegedly behind a January attack that killed four Israeli soldiers.
After the missile strike, Hamas renewed its threats against Israel as Israeli and Palestinian authorities cracked down on the group, which has carried out scores of suicide bombings against Israelis.
"We emphasize our right to continue the jihad (holy war) and resistance, and to intensify the martyrdom operations," Hamas said in a statement.
Monday: An Israeli army tank patrols the streets of Ramallah.
Palestinian police also surrounded the Gaza City home of Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin early Monday, and Palestinian authorities said he was under house arrest. However, Yassin invited journalists inside later in the day and said he was unaware of any such order.
"No one has informed me about any house arrest decision, and there is no agreement -- and there is no preparation -- for any house arrest," Yassin said.
After brief scuffles between Hamas supporters and police, Palestinian police pulled back from near Yassin's home. Masked Hamas gunmen patrolled the sandy streets outside the house and about 60 people gathered nearby with a Hamas flag.
Israeli forces arrested 10 Palestinians in the Hebron area Monday, most of them Hamas members. Palestinian authorities also have said they'd arrested dozens of Hamas members in Gaza in recent days.
In Ramallah, the Palestinian political headquarters in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers took up positions around Arafat's offices, where a bulldozer quickly barricaded the front gate and nearby streets with stones and debris.
More than 20 tanks were parked on the streets that surround Arafat's compound as of Monday afternoon, and forces fanned out throughout Ramallah, imposing a curfew on residents of the city and adjoining al-Bireh.
Arafat was inside the compound with security aides and was not harmed.
"The Israeli government, with these continuous attacks, has revealed to the whole world its real intentions," Arafat said in a statement issued by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. "Nothing can weaken our belief in our legal right to have our own independence and freedom, and all this Israeli aggression will not achieve any political results."
The army said it had arrested 13 Palestinian policemen for questioning, taken up "strategic points" in Ramallah, and had placed the area under curfew. Palestinians detonated explosives, slightly injuring one soldier, the army said. The streets were deserted except for Israeli jeep patrols.
Israel forces have besieged Arafat's compound on and off since last December, and Monday's action marked the third time this month to troops have surrounded his offices, which now consist of battered and scorched buildings that cover a full city block.
In Nablus, meanwhile, a Palestinian gunman was killed after he opened fire on troops who stopped his taxi at a checkpoint. Palestinian witnesses said a tank opened fire at the gunman after he emerged from the car carrying an assault rifle.
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