The Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat fortified his headquarters with dozens of rusty, wrecked cars and blue barrels of concrete today, fearing an imminent Israeli attack.
Mr Arafat told visitors he would not go down without a fight, but his aides acknowledged that the obstacles placed around the compound, meant to slow down tanks, would not hold back Israel's powerful military for long.
"I am going to enter this battle with my gun by my side," a visitor quoted Mr Arafat as saying. "I will resist until I become a martyr."
Israeli officials said there was no immediate plan to raid Mr Arafat's compound.
"We are not going to carry out any operation, but they are hysterical," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman said of Mr Arafat and his aides.