THE MIDDLE EAST: It is no secret that Israeli leader Mr Ariel Sharon would like to evict Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from the occupied territories. So far, US pressure and the objections of Israel's Labour Party leaders have stopped him.
But now Mr Sharon has a new plan. By making the Palestinian leader's living conditions so unbearable - Mr Arafat is now confined to just a few rooms in his demolished compound, without air-conditioning or electricity - he hopes he will leave of his own volition. "Arafat will be stuck in a turbid, stinking hole," one Israeli military official reportedly said over the weekend.
If Mr Arafat does ask to leave - by no means a given, as he is a veteran of more than one Israeli siege - Israeli leaders have said in recent days that the Palestinian leader will be free to go abroad, on a one-way ticket.
If anything, the name given to the Israeli military operation at Mr Arafat's compound - "Matter of Time" - is indicative of Mr Sharon's intentions. The Israeli demand is for the 20 or so militants inside the compound who are on its "wanted" list to surrender. But both sides understand that the real goal is less about extricating the militants and more about removing Mr Arafat.
The latest operation, government thinking goes, will further nudge Mr Arafat, who has been written off by President George Bush and is viewed with growing scepticism in Europe, even further towards the sidelines. But will isolating the Palestinian leader and humiliating him actually hasten his downfall, as Mr Sharon hopes, or will it have the opposite effect of boosting his flagging status, especially among his own people. The initial indications were good for Mr Arafat, with thousands of Palestinians defying the Israeli-imposed curfew and pouring into the streets across the West Bank and Gaza Strip to protest at the Israeli siege.
Mr Sharon, however, may be banking on the demonstrations petering out fast. They may. In recent months, Mr Arafat has encountered unprecedented criticism from his own people, who view many of his ministers as corrupt and have begun to question how their lot has been improved by the last two years of fighting. Two weeks ago he underwent a unique experience when his parliament, usually a rubber stamp operation, forced him to forego his plan to push through his reshuffled cabinet. Despite the criticism, however, Mr Arafat remains the most potent symbol of the Palestinian demand for statehood and harming him - Israel insists it has no such plans - could have bloody consequences across the region.
For the last six months, the US has given Israel almost carte blanche in its military operations, and President Bush has essentially adopted Mr Sharon's view of Mr Arafat as irrelevant. But the Israeli leader may find he cannot act unfettered this time round.
The last thing Mr Bush needs now is escalating violence in the Middle East, just as he is trying to convince unenthusiastic European and Arab leaders to back his campaign against Saddam Hussein.