Israeli troops and armored vehicles pulled out of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's West Bank compound Thursday morning, apparently ending a siege that lasted about six hours, witnesses said.
The troops had blown up offices of the Palestinian intelligence service, about 200 feet from Arafat's quarters, witnesses said. Palestinian officials said Arafat was unharmed.
The Israeli military said it acted amid "a wave of Palestinian terrorism sweeping the state of Israel," including an attack on a bus Wednesday that killed 17 Israelis and a Palestinian suicide bomber. It said Arafat's Palestinian Authority is "directly responsible for terrorism that originates in its territory."
The latest incursion into Ramallah came exactly five weeks after US intervention helped lift a 34-day siege of Arafat's headquarters and amid talk of renewed action against the Palestinian leader.
Smoke billowed from the city-block-sized compound and massive explosions were heard before troops pulled out of the area. Witnesses said Israeli forces had also lifted the cordon of armor around the compound.
Earlier, tanks and armored personnel carriers broke a huge hole in the outside wall and sent bulldozers inside to knock down structures.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. Israel has said it does not intend to physically harm Arafat.
(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2002)
