Israel destroyed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Gaza headquarters today but then hinted it might lift a siege that has kept him confined to the West Bank. The Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, said that Mr Arafat had met Israel's terms for ending the siege in the town of Ramallah by arresting the suspected killers of far-right cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi last October.
Israeli helicopter gunships fired at least four missiles at Palestinian security headquarters in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the attack, the second on the same target in four days. Palestinians have evacuated security headquarters, which have been targeted by Israeli air strikes over recent days.
Meanwhile, latest reports say that several people were wounded tonight in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod by automatic gunfire aimed at a synagogue. The Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, called on Mr Sharon to abandon the military campaign and return to negotiations.
In another incident, two Palestinians were killed when their car exploded in a village on the outskirts of East Jerusalem. Israeli radio said that the two men may have been killed by the accidental explosion of an explosive device to be used in an attack on an Israeli target.
Meanwhile, Israeli Arabs are holding a general strike today to express solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Shops and schools run by the Israeli Arab community have been closed down and services have been reduced to a minimum.
