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January 20, 2002
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Israel troops lit up the night sky with a powerful explosion that gutted the official Palestinian broadcasting building Saturday, dealing another retaliatory blow to Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority.
Israel said it was in response to a deadly attack by militants two days earlier. Officials said the media center was targeted because it was the source of what the Israelis described as incitement throughout the Mideast conflict.
The Palestinians called the demolition part of an ongoing Israeli attempt to undermine their leadership.
"The current situation is very dangerous," Arafat said at his Ramallah compound, which has been surrounded by Israeli tanks since Friday.
"I call on the international community to make an immediate move to rescue the situation before it explodes," he said. Arafat met at his besieged compound with a number of foreign visitors, including Italian lawmakers and the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, spiritual leader of the world's 77-million Anglicans.
Carey urged Israelis and Palestinians to return to the negotiating table. "Religious leaders have a part to play in this," he said. "Religion is not only part of the answer, but also part of the problem."
Only hours after the Israeli operation at the broadcasting building, Palestinian broadcasting returned to the air. The Voice of Palestine operated out of several local radio stations in Ramallah while Palestine Television used alternate facilities.
A few miles from the gutted building, protesters clashed with Israeli troops. Demonstrators threw stones at Israeli vehicles, including armored personnel carriers and tanks.
Israeli troops responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. Palestinian hospital officials said 22 people were injured, 10 from rubber bullets and 12 from breathing tear gas. One youth was shot in the head with a rubber bullet and was in critical condition.
The Israeli moves are part of a tough response to a Thursday night attack by a Palestinian gunman who opened fire on a girl's bat mitzvah, killing six and wounding dozens. The gunman was killed by police.
Before dawn Saturday, about a dozen Israeli tanks surrounded the hilltop broadcasting building and Israeli soldiers entered the five-story complex.
Palestinian Broadcasting Corp. chief Radwan Abu Ayyash said Israeli soldiers called over loudspeakers for the remaining employees to evacuate.