THE MIDDLE EAST: Yasser Arafat and his aides were confined to just a few rooms last night in his Ramallah office, after Israel, having spent the weekend tearing down the Palestinian leader's compound, halted the demolition work and withdrew its bulldozers. The move followed a day in which five Palestinians were killed in a wave of protests in support of Mr Arafat.
But the army maintained its blockade on the Palestinian leader's office, fencing it off with barbed wire, and there were no signs that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was planning to significantly release his chokehold on Mr Arafat. Until late yesterday afternoon, army bulldozers continued to pick away at the remaining buildings in the once-sprawling compound which has been reduced to piles of rubble.
Some Israeli observers said Mr Sharon's plan was to make the Palestinian leader's living conditions so unbearable that he would leave of his own volition - preferably to a destination abroad. "If he decides he wants to get out we'll give him a lift," deputy defence minister Shiri Weizman said yesterday. "We'll give him a one-way ticket in a dignified way." Israel, however, has said it will not harm Mr Arafat, and there were some reports that it had halted the demolition work in his compound for fear he might be injured. The only building left intact in the compound was Mr Arafat's office, where he and his aides can access only several rooms on two floors, after an Israeli shell damaged the staircase to the third floor. Mr Arafat's aides said that at one point during the demolitions, an explosion sent dust raining down on the Palestinian leader.
In a symbolic move, troops planted an Israeli flag in the compound, where ten buildings were destroyed over the weekend. The demolition of the compound began on Friday after Israel stormed it in retaliation for a Palestinian suicide attack in Tel Aviv which killed six people and the bomber.
Israel is demanding the surrender of some 20 men holed up inside the remaining building and who are on its "wanted" list for attacks on Israeli civilians. Late on Saturday night, Israel issued an ultimatum to the men, saying a building adjacent to Mr Arafat's office would be dynamited if they did not exit immediately.
Ultimately, the building was destroyed by a bulldozer, not blasted, and the men did not emerge. Mr Arafat's aides have said the Palestinian leader will not give the men up - a move he knows is tantamount to political suicide among his own people.
Mr Arafat remained defiant, releasing a statement on Saturday in which he said he did not plan to "capitulate." Raanan Gissin, an aide to Mr Sharon, said the government's first goal was to arrest the "wanted" men.
As news of the ultimatum spread, Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza took to the streets in protest, defying the Israeli-imposed curfews. Thousands marched in Gaza City in front of the parliament building, while a crowd of some 5,000, some firing into the air, others carrying Arafat placards, marched in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
Five Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in the course of the protests in the West Bank. In Ramallah, where police used tear gas and live fire to disperse protesters near Mr Arafat's compound, hospital officials said two Palestinians were killed by army fire.
Two people were killed in Tul Karm and in the Balata refugee camp adjoining Nablus. Later in the day, Palestinians reported that a 13-year-old boy who was violating the curfew in Nablus was shot dead by Israeli troops.
It was not entirely clear whether the US, which is concerned Israel's actions might undermine its plans on the Iraqi front by igniting anti-Israel and anti-American sentiment across the Arab world, was leaning on Israel to halt its actions. White House spokesman Jeanie Mamo did caution that "Israeli actions in and around the Muqata (Arafat's compound) are not helpful in reducing terrorist violence or promoting Palestinian reforms." The EU also criticised Israel's pummelling of the compound, with Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller saying that while the Jewish state had the right "to fight terror, the reoccupation and shelling of Arafat's headquarters would not bring peace and security." Palestinian Labour Minister Ghassan Khatib said Mr Sharon's plan of trying to render the Palestinian leader irrelevant would "backfire. His policy, which is to weaken Yasser Arafat, is having the opposite effect - it is strengthening him," he said.
Israeli Arab parliamentarian, Ahmed Tibi, who served as a personal adviser to Mr Arafat, warned of the bloody consequences were any harm to befall the Palestinian leader: "A building might collapse on him, by mistake or on purpose. This possibility existed over the past two days and will continue to exist. I don't envy anyone if something happens to Arafat as a result of this activity. There will be unprecedented bloodshed."