Israeli tanks shelled Yasser Arafat's offices and troops blew up buildings in his presidential compound yesterday in a six-hour raid in reprisal for a Palestinian car bombing.
Arafat was not hurt and emerged defiant after the tanks pulled back. But one of his intelligence officers was killed, a day after an Islamic militant blew up an explosives-packed car next to a bus in Israel, killing 17 people, 13 of them soldiers.
The bombing and the army push into Arafat's compound before a visit by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Washington next week undercut stepped-up international diplomacy aimed at breaking a vicious cycle of Middle East violence and reviving peace talks.
As soon as Israeli troops withdrew in tanks and armored transports, dozens of Palestinian police and intelligence officers emerged to survey the wreckage, shouting defiantly and waving assault rifles.
They clambered out over a crumpled car which had been ram-med by a tank up against the compound's main entrance.
Flashing V-for-victory signs as he stepped out of his smashed headquarters, Arafat accused Israel of "fascism" and vowed to reporters: "No one can defeat the Palestinian people."
Washington has warned Israel against toppling Arafat but US officials sharpened criticism of him overnight, calling him ineffective and untrustworthy and saying they were reaching out to other Palestinian leaders.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the raid was "designed to focus responsibility on the behavior of the Palestinian Authority for terror in general and the current wave in particular against which the PA and its head do not do enough to stop."
"It is not possible to exercise restraint in face of these murderous attacks," he said in a statement.
Troops surrounded Arafat's com-pound around 2:15am and exchanged fire with Palestinian security men inside. Israeli soldiers dynamited two security buildings near the compound, touching off fires.
Aides to Arafat said parts of the complex containing the Palestinian president's sleeping quarters were badly damaged by shelling and machinegun fire.
Explosions shook the headquarters, already pockmarked by bullets and shelling from a five-week Israeli army siege which ended little over a month ago.
Security sources said an intelligence officer was killed by shelling and six people in the compound were wounded.
Israeli political sources said Sharon had no intention of reimposing the siege he lifted on May 2, when Arafat turned over militants sheltering inside and wanted by Israel to internationally monitored custody.
They said Sharon sought only to mete out a punishing blow to show Arafat he could not get away with a "do-nothing" approach to Palestinian suicide bombers.
A Palestinian official pledged fierce action to stop militant groups mounting attacks in Israel. Israeli officials say Arafat has failed to honor such promises in the past.
Sharon delayed his departure on his trip to the US for talks with President George W. Bush by one day until tomorrow to deal with a response to the bombing.
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