Israel widens scope of military operations after recent bombing

JERUSALEM -- Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers surrounded Yasser Arafat's shell-shattered compound early Monday while the Palestinian leader and aides were inside, expanding Israel's control over the West Bank.

Seventeen tanks were taking up positions all around Arafat's compound and just inside at a helicopter pad. Israeli soldiers flashed V-for-victory signs while standing atop their moving vehicles. Palestinian intelligence officials said 130 tanks were seen moving into the city.

Within an hour of moving into Ramallah and adjoining el-Bireh, soldiers announced through loudspeakers that a curfew had been imposed on the area's 200,000 residents as in the other towns.

The move into Ramallah widens the Israeli military's scope of control over once-autonomous Palestinian areas. Israeli troops now control most Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, including Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem and Bethlehem.

The incursions come after back-to-back suicide bombings in Jerusalem that killed 26 Israelis Tuesday and Wednesday. Israel's Cabinet said troops would seize and hold Palestinian areas until the attacks ceased.

Israeli incursion

Moments before the Israeli incursion Monday, word emerged that Palestinian authorities had placed the spiritual leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas under house arrest in the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, the Palestinians arrested dozens of Hamas members, including a local Gaza leader, Muhammed Shuhab. Hamas has claimed scores of suicide bombings in Israel.

An order had been issued for the house arrest of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, Palestinian security sources told The Associated Press. Seven Palestinian police cars blocked the street on either side of the Gaza home of Yassin, who has been placed under house arrest in the past.

In Ramallah, Arafat was inside the compound along with Faisal Abu Sharakh, head of Force 17, one of Arafat's security apparatus. Also in the compound were intelligence chief Tariq al-Tarawi, who is wanted by Israel, and Ribhy Arafat, a Palestinian senior official.