Arafat threatens suicide over expulsion

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI in Gaza

Israeli forces killed a Hamas militant during a firefight with gunmen in the Gaza Strip yesterday, hours after Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said he would kill himself if Israel tried to expel or kill him.

Israeli soldiers shot and killed Jihad Abu Swerah, 34, a senior activist in the Izz-el-Deen al-Qassam armed wing of Hamas during an operation to arrest him at his home in central Gaza, military sources said.

The raid was part of a series of Israeli measures to clamp down on militants who have been behind the killing of 38 people in suicide bombings in Israel over the past month in a cycle of tit-for-tat violence that has derailed a US-backed peace plan.

Speaking in his partly demolished West Bank headquarters in Ramallah, Arafat pointed to his machinegun lying on the floor and said he would use it to kill himself if Israel tried to deport or assassinate him.

"I am a Palestinian soldier ... I will use my gun to defend not only myself but also defend every Palestinian child, woman and man and to defend the Palestinian existence," the 74-year-old former guerrilla leader said.

"Is there anyone in Palestine who does not dream of martyrdom?"

Palestinians describe suicide bombers, who have killed scores of civilians in Israel, as martyrs.

Israel vowed to remove Arafat after two suicide bombings last week.

It has not said how or when it would act against him but Cabinet ministers have indicated the possibilities include killing or expelling him.

The US, though pressuring Israel to refrain from carrying out its decision, vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding that Israel not act against Arafat, saying it lacked references to suicide bombings in Israel.

Arafat shrugged off the veto, saying it is "not the first veto against the Palestinians and will not be the last".

But other Palestinian officials said they feared Israel could see the US move as a licence to kill Arafat.

In the Gaza raid, sources said the Hamas militant was shot and killed after he opened fire at Israeli soldiers next to his house.

Three soldiers were wounded in the fighting and soldiers blew up the house after the raid.

The noise of explosions and roadside bombs being detonated against the Israeli forces echoed across the camp.

The fighting was the heaviest between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip in months.

- REUTERS