Israeli tanks enter Ramallah, seal off Arafat's compound
Israeli forces backed by
dozens of tanks again took over Ramallah early on Monday,
sealing off Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound
as they pressed ahead with a new crackdown on militants.
Israeli helicopters also
fired missiles at two cars on the southern Gaza Strip,
killing six Palestinians, Palestinian hospital sources
said. Palestinian security officials called the deaths
a "targeted assassination."
At the same time, Palestinian security officers, often
criticized for not doing enough to stop a wave of suicide
bombings, put the spiritual leader of the Islamic radical
movement Hamas under house arrest in Gaza City.
Palestinian security sources said some 50-60 tanks, armoured
personnel carriers and other vehicles rolled into Ramallah
before dawn, with at least two helicopter gunships in
support.
The Israelis imposed a curfew on Ramallah, the al-Amari
refugee camp and the neighboring town of al-Bireh. About
20 tanks and armored personnel carriers also patrolled
the suburb of Beitunia, which they entered four days ago.
The Israelis surrounded Arafat's already-battered compound
after briefly sending in three tanks. They began sealing
off access roads in their third major incursion here this
month, according to the security sources and an AFP correspondent
at the scene.
The move into Ramallah was part of a new get-tough policy
announced by the Jewish state after a series of Palestinian
suicide bombings and other attacks last week that left
31 Israelis dead.
The Israelis, who have vowed to occupy Palestinian territory
for as long as the attacks on its people continue, control
six of eight major West Bank towns. They had already seized
Jenin, Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Bethlehem and Nablus.
The Israeli army said in a statement that troops and
border police "launched operations in Ramallah tonight,
taking control of the strategic points of the city and
imposing a curfew."
The statement said an Israeli soldier was slightly wounded
by an explosive device in Ramallah but gave no details.
It also said its troops had arrested 12 Palestinians in
the areas of Hebron, Jenin and Bethlehem.
A Palestinian official inside Arafat's headquarters confirmed
the entry of Israeli tanks in the compound. "We heard
the sound of the tanks entering but we don't know where
they are exactly," he told AFP by phone.
An Israeli bulldozer began piling up large rocks and
rubble in order to seal off the five access roads leading
to the compound, security sources said.
There were no reports of clashes or shooting as the troops
moved into the city, but two large explosions were heard
which Palestinian sources said were shells fired by helicopter
gunships.
One of them hit the al-Amari camp, landing in the middle
of a road, while it was not clear where the second landed.
No casualties were reported.
The sources said Israeli troops stormed the house of
Jihad Tumaleh, the head of Arafat's Fatah group in the
al-Amari refugee camp, but did not find him. Two unidentified
Palestinians were arrested near Arafat's compound.
Arafat's compound had already been devastated by a five-week
Israeli siege that ended May 2, as well as a brief but
ferocious tank assault on June 6 and a three-day re-occupation
four days later.
Ramallah,
June 24, 2002 (HT)
