Arafat's compound occupied by Israeli troops

Israel declared Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat its enemy yesterday and its troops smashed their way into his presidential compound in the West Bank, triggering gunbattles that killed five people.

Troops also stormed into the most sensitive religious site in the Holy Land, throwing stun grenades at Palestinian rock-throwers at the Al Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Shoppers in a supermarket in Jerusalem were then rocked by an explosion that left dozens injured.

Both Mr Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were talking tough late last night as Mideast tensions reached breaking point despite the emergence of a plan for peace that was unanimously endorsed at an Arab summit in Beirut on Thursday.

The Israeli military action - the toughest since the 18-month Palestinian uprising began - followed a suicide bombing attack in an Israeli seaside hotel on Thursday in which 21 people died.

Mr Arafat is effectively encircled in his compound in Ramallah, where 13 of his guards were wounded and at least one tank shell hit a building.

Israeli forces first swept into Ramallah, 15km north of Jerusalem, after Israel dismissed an offer of an unconditional, immediate ceasefire by Mr Arafat following one of the bloodiest Palestinian suicide bombings yet seen.

That attack, at the Park Hotel in Netanya during the Passover holiday, dealt a blow to the already faltering attempts by the United States envoy Anthony Zinni to broker a ceasefire.

The Ramallah counter-strike came as Israel's Cabinet yesterday formally declared Mr Arafat an enemy and said it would isolate him. Witnesses said about 100 Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles had rumbled overnight into the fog-bound city, the Palestinians' main political and commercial hub in the West Bank.

Mr Arafat was not hurt, but 13 of his guards were wounded.

"Israeli snipers are on the roofs of all the buildings around Arafat's office, and they are shooting at anyone who dares to move in the compound," said Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.

"Israeli tanks are at Arafat's door, and they are not allowing anyone in or out."

Israeli soldiers demanded over a loudspeaker that Mr Arafat's security guards surrender.

Other officials said the outer walls of Mr Arafat's compound were shelled by Israeli tanks and parts of the compound were on fire.

"Arafat is the enemy and he will be isolated at this stage," Mr Sharon told a televised news conference after a Cabinet meeting that lasted most of the night.

"Israeli forces are now in Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah and they will pursue the Palestinian Authority in all its territory."

From the besieged compound, Mr Arafat said the Palestinians would never give up their fight for an independent state.

In a telephone interview broadcast on Palestinian television, he said that he had contacted United States officials to demand action to prevent an eruption of violence across the Middle East. A photograph released by aides showed him taking calls in his office with a 9mm pistol on the table before him.

"This is the Israeli response to every attempt to make peace because they do not want peace, they do not want peace. We should remember that. No Palestinian and no one in the Arab nation will surrender or kneel."

Mr Arafat said he regarded the military offensive as Israel's response to the peace plan adopted by Arab leaders in Beirut. "It is a reply to the Arab summit in Beirut."

He had discussed the situation with unspecified American envoys and demanded action.

"Where are you? Don't you know that this will shake the Middle East?" he said.

Mr Arafat said he wished for "martyrdom" rather than capture by Israel. "The only thing he [Mr Sharon] can do is take me as the corpse of a martyr. He will not take me any other way."

He described Mr Sharon as a "world terrorist" and called on the world community to stop him.

Asked what message he wanted to send to Arab leaders, Mr Arafat said: "To move on the international arena with all world leaders to stop this global and international terrorism which is being led by Sharon.

"The most dangerous form of terrorism is what is happening in the Holy Land."

Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel had no intention of harming Mr Arafat physically, and Mr Sharon left open the possibility that the Palestinian leader might be expelled from the West Bank.

The mosque storming followed protests by rock-throwing Palestinian youths after the assault on the Arafat compound.

The site, known to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, holds two large mosques and is revered as the spot from which Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. The mosques are atop the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temples.

It was a flashpoint for tension 18 months ago when Mr Sharon visited the site to emphasise Israel's claim of sovereignty to what they call the Temple Mount.

Unconfirmed reports said one person may have died in the later supermarket bombing in a strip mall in Kiryat Yovel, a working class Jewish neighbourhood.

At least 1108 Palestinians and 382 Israelis have been killed in tit-for-tat violence since the revolt began.

- AGENCIES

Feature: Middle East

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UN: Information on the Question of Palestine

Israel's Permanent Mission to the UN

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Middle East Daily

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Arabic Media Internet Network

Jerusalem Post

Israel Wire

US Department of State - Middle East Peace Process