Ben Wedeman: Siege may not end soon
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CNN's Ben Wedeman
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RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- An aide to Yasser Arafat said Sunday that "the situation is really dreadful" inside the Palestinian leader's heavily damaged Ramallah compound.
Israeli forces laid siege to the West Bank compound Thursday after back-to-back Palestinian suicide bombings that killed six Israelis and a Scottish student. Israel Defense Forces said they have demolished at least 10 buildings in the compound. The building that houses Arafat's office remains standing but is said to have been damaged.
CNN's Ben Wedeman reported the latest developments Sunday from Ramallah.
WEDEMAN: The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, is still inside what remains of what was once the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority here in Ramallah. Throughout the day, we've seen fairly steady activity by large backhoes, bulldozers and other heavy equipment -- slowly, gradually but systematically destroying the buildings.
They [Israeli forces] have put around the building in which Arafat is [holed up] some very large rows of barbed wire. There are essentially two rows -- one on the outer perimeter of the compound, another around Arafat's building. This would seem to indicate that the Israeli forces are going to be in Ramallah for quite some time.
We're hearing from inside the headquarters that the situation is becoming somewhat dire. I spoke to Saeb Erakat, who is the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, who is not in the building. But he said that he's being told by people inside that they're running low on food and medicine.
They've been trying, with some cooperation from the Israelis, to repair a water main that supplies water to the building in which Mr. Arafat is located. But apparently, those efforts to repair the water pipe are not going ahead very well.
We also spoke with a senior Palestinian official who said that he had been in touch with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and with the foreign minister, Shimon Peres, as well as with the defense minister [Benjamin Ben-Eliezer]. He warned the Israelis that if Arafat comes to any harm, there could be serious and negative repercussions -- not only here but throughout the Middle East as well.
The whole purpose of this operation, according to Israeli officials, is to get the surrender of 50 people they say are inside the building with Arafat and who they say have been involved in terrorist attacks against Israel.
