By
The Associated Press
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli helicopters rocketed Yasser Arafat's residential compound, police stations and broadcasting centers yesterday in a swift retaliation for the brutal killings of two Israeli soldiers by a Palestinian mob. The violence was some of the worst in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the 1967 Mideast war.
One of the missiles struck just 50 yards from Arafat's headquarters, with the Palestinian leader inside the building during the attack, his aides said.
A defiant Arafat later toured the targeted sites and returned to his headquarters to cheers from a waiting crowd, flashing a victory sign. "Our people don't care, and don't hesitate to continue their march toward Jerusalem," he said.
The fighting left last-ditch U.S. peace efforts in tatters.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Arafat "does not appear to be a partner for peace at this time." Barak said he held Arafat's government indirectly responsible for the killing of the soldiers, and that Israel would hunt down those involved.
Barak also renewed calls to the hawkish opposition party Likud to join an emergency coalition. Likud has rebuffed Barak in the past, saying it would only join if he walked away from the peace talks.
In Washington, President Clinton urged Israelis and Palestinians to undertake an immediate cease-fire.
"Now is the time to stop the bloodshed, to restore calm, to return to dialogue and ultimately to the peace process," the president said.
"I strongly condemn the murder of Israeli soldiers in Ramallah today," the president said. "While I understand the anguish Palestinians feel over the losses they have suffered, there can be no possible justification for mob violence."
The killing of the two reserve soldiers in the West Bank town of Ramallah incensed Israelis, with Barak calling it a "cold-blooded lynching."
The two soldiers were on their way to their army base in the West Bank when they made a wrong turn. Chased by Palestinians in Ramallah, they sought shelter in the town's police station, which was quickly overrun by a Palestinian mob that attacked them.
Italy's Mediaset TV showed one of the soldiers, dangling upside down, apparently attached to a rope. The crowd stood below waving fists and cheering. The body was dropped into the compound, where the mob stomped on the corpse and beat it with the broken bars of a window grille.
Barak responded quickly, tightly sealing Palestinian towns, massing troops near Ramallah and unleashing helicopter gunships. A column of Israeli armored personnel carriers rumbled across a rocky hillside near Ramallah.
Arafat's headquarters in Gaza City and buildings near it were hurriedly evacuated shortly as helicopters hovered above. A one-story building next to Arafat's residence, housing his elite Force 17 bodyguard unit, was struck. Smoke rose above the compound, near the Mediterranean seafront. Residents were running out of the buildings in the area amid the chaos, and ambulances rushed to the scene.
In the nearby town of Beit Lahia, rockets hit the headquarters of Tanzim, the armed wing of Arafat's Fatah faction. Six Palestinian navy boats were also destroyed.
The Israeli attack came shortly after Arafat met with CIA chief George Tenet at an undisclosed location in Gaza City. Tenet had left the area before the attack, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
Dozens of Palestinian prisoners, including members of the Islamic militant group Hamas, were released from Palestinian jails during the attack.
In Ramallah, an Israeli rocket hit a car, sending two Palestinian bystanders scrambling for cover as flames burst into the air. Another missile struck the police station where the Israelis had been killed hours earlier, reducing it to rubble.
The Palestinian TV headquarters in Ramallah were also hit. Palestinian reports said at least 12 people were injured. In a second wave, about two hours later, the helicopters returned, rocketing radio transmitters in the city.
An angry mob gathered outside the police station, shouting "God is great," and raising a Palestinian flag on a wall that was partially destroyed.
"This is a crime. Let the world see what Israel does to us," said Adeed Zeidan, a Palestinian ambulance driver.
Israel's deputy defense minister, Ephraim Sneh, said Israel attacked broadcasting stations "where all the instigation for violence and terrorism is coming from."
The killing of the soldiers and Israel's strong response left little hope that Israel and the Palestinians could negotiate a truce and bring an end to two weeks of bloodshed that have left at least 94 people dead, the vast majority Palestinians.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan cut short a Lebanon visit to deal with the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians. "I appeal to all - leaders and citizens alike - to stop and think about what they are doing today and what kind of tomorrow they want for their children," Annan said in a statement. "I urge you to opt for restraint."
Earlier this week, Annan had tried to broker a truce, with little success.
The crisis erupted Thursday morning when the Israeli soldiers inadvertently made a wrong turn and ended up near the center of Ramallah, a scene of daily battles between Israeli troops and Palestinian rioters.
The Palestinian Information Ministry confirmed that the two Israelis were driving in a car with Israeli plates, contradicting earlier Palestinian claims that the soldiers were members of a feared undercover unit that hunts Palestinian fugitives.
The soldiers had sought shelter at the police station from an angry Palestinian crowd. However, word quickly spread that the Israelis were at the station - amid rumors that they were undercover soldiers - and more than 1,000 Palestinians surged toward the station.
Palestinian forces tried to keep the mob at bay, but about 10 men broke through a second-floor window where the Israelis were held.
The soldiers' death cut deep wounds in Israel. Israelis' pride in their powerful, well-equipped army is tightly bound up with their sense of national identity. Together with that, though, goes a primal dread of soldiers being caught out, isolated from their comrades, rendered helpless.
