Israel strikes hit Arafat compound

In the Gaza Strip, a 15-year-old boy and a member of the security forces were killed in an Israeli missile attack on a security installation, doctors said.

The rockets sent hundreds of school children running for cover, and doctors said more than 100 people were injured, many of them youngsters.

The air strikes came just hours after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Israel's Cabinet branded Arafat's government a supporter of terrorism and singled out two organizations affiliated with the Palestinian leader as terror groups — the Tanzim militia and Force 17, a branch of the Palestinian security forces.

The decision prompted ministers from the moderate Labor Party to walk out of the Cabinet meeting in protest, and some Labor leaders hinted that the party might quit the coalition government.

Arafat, speaking to CNN after the air strike on his compound, accused Israel of trying to undermine his efforts to combat terrorism. The Palestinian Authority has rounded up some 130 members of the militant Islamic Jihad and Hamas groups in response to weekend suicide bombings and shootings on Israelis that killed 26 people. Israel views Arafat's moves against the militants as token efforts.

"They (the Israelis) don't want me to succeed and for this he (Sharon) is escalating his military activities against our people, against our towns, against our cities, against our establishments,'' Arafat said. "He doesn't want a peace process to start.''

Sharon on Monday declared a "war on terror'' in response to the recent attacks by Islamic militants. Israel's reprisals have been largely aimed at symbols of Arafat's rule and have effectively grounded the Palestinian leader in Ramallah.

On Monday, Israeli missiles damaged Arafat's three helicopters parked near his seaside office in the Gaza Strip. Early Tuesday, Israeli troops tore up the landing strip at Gaza International Airport.

An adviser to Sharon, speaking just before Tuesday's attack on the Arafat headquarters in Ramallah, said the Palestinian leader himself was not the target.

"We have stated publicly that we do not intend to harm him personally,'' said the adviser, Danny Ayalon. "But since he is responsible for the wave of terrorism which has been going on, we had to hit something close to him personally.''

Three Israeli missiles hit a security station within Arafat's walled government compound in Ramallah, about 50 yards from Arafat's office. The shells knocked down a wall and damaged the roof.

"Arafat was in his office working when the Israeli helicopters fired missiles on the places around his office,'' said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, secretary general of the Palestinian Cabinet. "It's clear now that Sharon has decided to topple the Palestinian Authority and destroy the peace process.''

The army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ron Kitrey, said Israel had taken careful aim. "If Arafat was the target, then I guess the missile would not have hit the police station,'' he said.

In Gaza City, F-16s fired missiles at the office of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service in a residential neighborhood. Hundreds of children fled a nearby school about 200 yards from the station after the first missile hit.

"Sharon has declared war on us. God help us,'' said one of the children, Ayman Abdul Jawad, 13, running in the street with friends, blood on his head.

Fleeing children dropped to the ground, screaming, when warplanes swooped down and fired a second missile. People evacuated buildings in the neighborhood and rescue teams rushed to the area.

Explosions were also heard in other parts of Gaza City. It was not immediately clear what they were. Israel confirmed it also launched an air strike against Palestinian security installations in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza.

At about the same time, Israeli helicopters shelled a Palestinian security installation in the West Bank town of Salfit. There were no reports of injuries.

Israel's 2 a.m. Cabinet decision — declaring Arafat's government a supporter of terrorism — was meant to step up pressure on Arafat to crack down hard on militants and prevent attacks on Israel, but was not an opening signal for a major assault on the Palestinian Authority, said a Sharon adviser, Raanan Gissin.

"We'll use all the measures at our disposal with greater frequency, with more impunity, to put pressure on Arafat to comply,'' Gissin said.

Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh of Labor hinted the party might quit the coalition, saying that "the unity government is important to us ... but not at every price.'' Labor favors rehabilitating ties with Arafat. A departure by Labor would not in itself topple Sharon's government, but would destabilize it.

Israel's retaliation began Monday afternoon when helicopter gunships destroyed or damaged Arafat's three helicopters parked near his seaside compound in Gaza City. F-16 warplanes also bombed Palestinian security installations in the West Bank town of Jenin.