Israelis leave Arafat compound after raid

Incursion follows Palestinian terror attack on bus

A Palestinian policeman walks by a damaged building in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound Thursday.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Israeli forces stormed the compound of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah on Wednesday night hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 17 Israelis on a bus in northern Israel.

One of Arafat's bodyguards was killed, and six other people were seriously wounded in the raid, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

Explosions and gunfire could be heard from the West Bank compound soon after tanks, bulldozers and armored vehicles entered.

Israeli forces withdrew from the compound early Thursday, and Arafat emerged a short time later, flashing a "V" for victory and denouncing the Israeli incursion.

"It is a message for the whole international world to see the fascism and this aggression against the headquarters of the Palestinian people," said a defiant Arafat, surrounded by reporters.

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"No one can defeat the Palestinian people who are defending the holy sacred Christian and Muslim holy places, and we are here to defend it, and we are ready to die to defend it."

Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said the incursion was intended to demonstrate to Arafat he will be held responsible for terrorist acts against Israelis and hinted more incursions may follow.

"We cannot turn a blind eye to these terror attacks, and the security forces and the IDF will take every step to end the terror," Ben-Eliezer said.

Israeli troops re-entered Ramallah later Thursday, arrested six Palestinians, including two members of the Islamic group Hamas, Palestinian security sources said. The troops then withdrew.

Israeli officials, who asked not to be identified, said that the earlier siege of Arafat's compound that began in late March had not succeeded in sidelining him as they had hoped. Wednesday's incursion, they said, was intended to demonstrate the powerless of the Palestinian leader.

Palestinian security sources said the third floor of Arafat's office building was destroyed in the shelling and Arafat's office on the second floor was riddled with bullets. Arafat was in the compound during the assault, Palestinian sources said. (View a larger map of Arafat's compound)

A bridge that links Arafat's office to a conference room where he meets with reporters sustained heavy damage, and the Palestinian intelligence building in the compound was destroyed, sources said.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat called the operation "a very dangerous escalation." Erakat said he had spoken with Arafat and that he was safe at that time, but "heavy shelling, heavy shooting" could be heard as they spoke.

Several Israeli newspapers carried reports saying CIA Director George Tenet had told Arafat on Tuesday that if he did not crack down on terrorist acts, the United States could not persuade Israel to stop its incursions.

Arafat asked Tenet to pressure Israel to stop the incursions and to withdraw the troops it has stationed around West Bank towns and villages.

Arafat aide Nabil Abu Redeneh said Thursday that the United States had given Israel a "green light" to stage incursions, Israel Radio reported. But in Washington, White House officials said the Bush administration was given no notice of the incursion and expressed frustration that it had occurred.

Wednesday's bus attack in northern Israel killed 17 Israelis -- 13 of them soldiers.

"We are just gathering information about what is happening -- and I am in no way criticizing Israel -- but this is not the path to peace," one senior official said.

Wednesday's attack by a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 17 Israelis, 13 of them soldiers. The bomber detonated a car bomb as it pulled up next to a crowded bus at Megiddo junction in northern Israel.

The militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to a Hezbollah TV station in Lebanon.

Israeli forces previously stormed Arafat's Ramallah compound, starting a siege on March 29 that ended May 2 after the transfer of six Palestinian militants to a Jericho jail. Five of the six were wanted by Israel in the October killing of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.

Israel said the previous siege on Arafat's compound and the Operation Defensive Shield military campaign in the West Bank were to root out the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure. Palestinians accused Israel of trying to reoccupy Palestinian territories.