[size=4]Israeli tanks enter Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah after Tel Aviv attack[/size=4]
By Hadeel Wahdan, Associated Press, 9/19/2002 12:55

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) Israeli tanks entered Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Thursday, Palestinian security officials said, after a suicide bomber blew himself up on a Tel Aviv bus, killing five other people.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment, but military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that an Israeli military operation was underway. The Palestinian officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said two guards were injured during the incursion.

An official inside the compound said the Israeli tanks had advanced to the area of a helicopter landing pad outside Arafat's office building. Arafat's office is in a central section of a large building, protected by piles of sandbags.

Israel has held Ramallah under siege for most of the year, with tanks breaking into the city-block-sized compound several times, destroying some of the buildings. Arafat has been confined to the building most of the time since last December.

The incursion came as Israel's Cabinet met in special session to consider a response to the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, the second such attack in Israel in two days after a six-week lull.

After past terror attacks, hardline Israeli Cabinet ministers have called for expulsion of Arafat. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has denounced Arafat repeatedly, holding him responsible for Palestinian violence, and has declared him irrelevant to peace initiatives, but has resisted pressure to expel him.

Palestinians charge that Israel's harsh military measures are responsible for the violence. On the one hand, they say, Israel's occupation of most of the West Bank population centers has left Palestinian security unable to operate, and on the other, the Israeli curfews and roadblocks have built Palestinian resentment and frustration, leading to a violent response.

The Palestinian Authority issued a statement denouncing the Tel Aviv bombing, saying it gives Sharon's government a reason to retaliate.

[url]http://www.boston.com/dailynews/262/world/Israeli_tanks_enter_Yasser_Ara:.shtml[/url]

Eric The(WhyNotJustStay?)Hun[>]:)]

[size=6][red]Fire !!![/red][/size=6]

Here's the reason for the return of the IDF tanks to Rammalah:

[size=4]Tel Aviv Bus Bomb Kills 6, Hurts 49[/size=4]
Thu Sep 19, 1:59 PM ET
By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - A Palestinian blew himself up on a crowded bus Thursday, killing at least five other people and wounding 49, the second suicide bombing in two days. Israel sent tanks into Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters, firing on his offices and wounding two guards.

Israel's assault on the Palestinian leader's compound — which Israel television said aimed to quarantine him and not capture or expel him — followed the suicide blast that tore through a bus as it passed through a downtown Tel Aviv boulevard busy with businesses and restaurants.

The shrapnel-studded blast left the bus driver slumped dead at the wheel, his body blackened. Passengers jumped out of shattered windows. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the lunchtime attack, though Israeli media reported conflicting claims by the militant Palestinian groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

In the evening, as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with his Cabinet, Israeli tanks entered the city-block-sized headquarters where Arafat was holed up in his offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

An Israeli army spokesman said in a statement that "in response to the terrorist attack, Israeli forces surrounded the compound." Israel TV said the goal was to isolate Arafat in his office. After past terror attacks, Israeli hard-liners have called for Arafat's expulsion, but Sharon has resisted pressure to do so.

An official inside the compound said the Israeli tanks had advanced to the area of a helicopter landing pad outside Arafat's building. The Israeli troops fired heavy machine guns and tank shells on the offices, which is protected by piles of sandbags, wounding two guards, Palestinian security officials said.

Israel has held Arafat's Palestinian Authority responsible for anti-Israeli attacks, saying it has not done enough to crack down on militants. Israeli troop have held Ramallah under siege for most of the year, with tanks breaking into the compound several times, destroying some buildings. Arafat has been confined to his office building most of the time since December.

Before this week, there had been no suicide bombings in Israel since Aug. 4. The renewed attacks came a day after Israel rejected a Palestinian proposal for a two-stage truce. Israel said the Palestinian offer to halt attacks in Israel proper during the first phase implied Palestinians still would feel free to strike Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

President Bush said he strongly condemned the back-to-back suicide bombings. "All parties must do everything they can to reject and stop violence," Bush said at a meeting in the Oval Office.

After Thursday's blast, Hamas spokesman Ismail Abu Shanab told The Associated Press he expected to see "a series of operations against the Zionist enemy, as a result of the daily brutal crimes against our people." But he stopped short of claiming responsibility.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack, in which a suicide bomber blew himself at a bus stop in northern Israel, killing an Israeli policeman.

Thursday's explosion on Allenby Street went off just after 1 p.m., outside one of the major synagogues in Tel Aviv, across the street from a Starbucks coffee shop and a block away from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Herzl Ben-Moshe, a store owner trying to rescue passengers, said he saw several people lying on the floor of the bus, including one man whose legs had been blown off. "People were yelling, `Take us out of here,'" Ben-Moshe said.

"People were hurting, screaming, wounded. We saw pieces of people," said Zohara Pillo, 27, a visitor from Haifa.

The blast scorched the bus and blew out its windows. One man with blood over his bare chest was wheeled away by paramedics. Another man sat on the sidewalk, crying.

Mark Sofer, an official in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said that "once again, the utter bestiality of Palestinian terrorism has reared its ugly head, on a bus in Tel Aviv." Sofer held the Palestinian Authority responsible, saying it had done nothing to rein in militants.

After the attack, Arafat's Palestinian Authority said it condemns all attacks on civilians, Israeli or Palestinian. It said in a statement that the bombing was against Palestinian interests and gave Israel "the pretext to continue killing, to continue the siege and to continue settlement activities."

Arafat has condemned attacks on Israeli civilians — most recently in a speech to parliament last week — though Israel accuses him of doing little to prevent them. The Palestinians say Israel's military strikes have rendered their security services powerless against the militants.

Israeli troops occupy most Palestinian towns in the West Bank and confine hundreds of thousands of residents their to their homes daily to try to keep militants out of Israel.

However, troops lifted the curfew in the town of Jenin for several hours Tuesday for the first time in weeks, and there was some speculation that the recent days attackers may have come from the town, a hotbed of militants.

The flare-up in attacks comes after Palestinian and Israeli negotiators met Tuesday in New York along with mediators from the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia — the so-called "Quartet."

During the talks, Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath proposed a gradual truce in which Arafat's administration would call on Palestinians not to target Israeli civilians, in return for an Israeli promise to stop killing suspected Palestinian militants and destroying houses. That step would pave the way to a comprehensive end to violence.

Palestinians refer to civilians as those living in Israel, but consider Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza — land the Palestinians claim for a future state — to be combatants.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres rejected the proposal, saying it would imply Palestinian militants could kill others in the early truce stage.

[url]http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&ncid=716&e=3&u=/ap/20020919/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians[/url]

Eric The(Saddened,Again)Hun[>]:)]

"IDF Back At Arafat's Ramallah Compound"

this begs the question of 'why' arafat STILL HAS a compound.

How about

"Why are there any buildings left in the Palestine squatters camps?"

What do you guys think would happen if they just killed him?  Honestly, I think shit would get rough for a little while until the palestinians realize they have no choice but to shut up and sit down.  

ilikelegs: An Official Jew Crew has been formed?  I remember during the summer, I could always count on seeing your name in any Israeli affiliated post.  What a novel idea.

Keving67

You know if garandman were still here this topic would be up to fifty replies or more by now.

Yes, I would never have made it anywhere near 10,000 posts without the aid of [b]garandman[/b], in large measure.

He will return.

Eric The(LikeTheJewsAlwaysReturn)Hun[>]:)]

Urban Renewal, IDF style.

[img]http://www.waronline.org/IDF/pictures/Army/CAT_D-9/images/549_.JPG[/img]

Run Ragheads, Run!

[img]http://www.waronline.org/IDF/pictures/Army/Merk3_rubber_trucks/images/670.jpg[/img]

Loading negotiating tools...

[img]http://www.waronline.org/IDF/pictures/Army/Merkava-3/images/439.JPG[/img]

Here's an intelligent fellow...

[img]http://www.waronline.org/IDF/pictures/Army/Merkava-1_2/images/429.JPG[/img]