Israeli troops tightened their siege of a defiant Yasser Arafat in his battered headquarters yesterday as the UN Security Council, with rare US support, called for Israel to pull out of Palestinian cities.
With a mobile phone his lone link to the world, Arafat remained confined to his three-story office building by Israeli troops who have taken over the rest of his sprawling compound. The Palestinian leader was without electricity and water, his aides said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Throughout the West Bank town of Ramallah -- seized in the first stage of a major Israeli military offensive -- dozens of tanks enforced a tight curfew yesterday and exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen.
The bodies of five Palestinian policemen were found on the top floor of a three-story building, witnesses said. At Arafat's compound, a security guard wounded earlier in fighting with Israeli forces died of his injuries.
In New York, meanwhile, the UN Security Council called on Israel to withdraw its troops from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah.
In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Israel had no interest in remaining in Ramallah or any other Palestinian cities, but was forced to carry out the military strikes "because the Palestinians are launching terrorism against our citizens, rather than eradicating terrorism and implementing a ceasefire."
In Washington, US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Israel to show restraint but did not criticize the Israeli operation, saying Israel had a right to defend itself from terrorism.
Early yesterday morning, Israeli tanks rumbled into the Palestinian town of Beit Jalla, adjacent to biblical Bethlehem, where Christians are observing Easter weekend. However, the troops did not enter Bethlehem.
The Israeli forces did not face serious resistance, but one armored personnel carrier flipped over as it attempted to negotiate a sharp curve on the way into Beit Jalla, just south of Jerusalem. Palestinian gunmen in Beit Jalla have frequently fired on a nearby Jewish area.
Israel launched its offensive Friday, taking over Ramallah and seizing Arafat's sprawling government complex there. By nightfall Friday, Israeli troops had surrounded the Palestinian leader in his office building. His aides said Israel had cut off electricity and water, and that food and medical supplies were running low.
"I can say that the Israelis are just a few meters from President Arafat," said Ribhi Arafat, an aide to the Palestinian leader. "There are Israeli tanks outside the building and a big number of Israeli soldiers."
Israel has declared Arafat an "enemy" and said he would be completely isolated.
Israel says it has no plans to harm or arrest Arafat, but wants to isolate him. But Arafat's aides say they fear for his safety.
Arafat spoke by phone Friday with foreign leaders and with the media, calling for an end to the Israeli military offensive. But it was not clear how long he would be able to communicate -- he has been using a mobile phone dependent on a battery that needs recharging.
"They are shelling us continuously in the last 24 hours," Arafat said Friday night in a telephone interview with CNN, during which machine-gun fire could be heard in the background. "It is the real terrorism of the occupation."
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said Arafat in effect has use of only three rooms on the ground floor, since the stairways to the floor above were in the line of Israeli fire. Arafat has accused Israel of trying to kill him, though Israeli officials have said they would not harm the Palestinian leader physically.
The Israeli military yesterday displayed dozens of automatic rifles, handguns and more than 30 rocket-propelled grenades that it said were seized from Arafat's compound.
The military said it has arrested a total of 145 suspected Palestinian militants during the two-day operation, including more than 60 who were detained Friday in Arafat's compound. Arafat's aides have said most of those captured by Israel in Arafat's headquarters were secretaries, drivers and other civilians.
Yesterday, 15 Palestinian gunmen surrendered after Israel rocketed a high-rise building where they were holed up. Among those who surrendered was Sakher Habash, a senior figure in Arafat's Fatah movement.
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces over loudspeakers demanded that all males between the ages of 14 and 40 come out of their homes and report to a Ramallah school. At least 100 Palestinian men were blindfolded and had their hands tied behind their backs. Some were being put on a truck and driven away. The army chased away journalists who arrived at the scene.
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