Ariel Sharon has described the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, as an enemy of the free world. In a televised address to the nation, the Israeli Prime Minister said the state of Israel was in a war.
However, the Chief Palestinian negotiator accused Mr Sharon of "closing all the doors" to peace. Meanwhile, the death toll from today's suicide bombing in the northern Israeli city of Haifa has risen to 16. More than 30 people were injured in the attack. The militant Islamic group Hamas has claimed responsibility.
The US President, George W Bush, condemned the attack as well as a later one in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. A spokesman for President Bush said the attacks would not derail US efforts to promote the Middle East peace process.
The latest attacks occurred as Israeli troops intensified their occupation of the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Mr Arafat is under siege. A senior Israeli Army General said the siege would not end until men wanted by Israel were handed over. The Israeli Army is reported to have killed 30 members of the Palestinian Security services in the city today. Earlier, Israeli troops were reported to have entered the Ramallah governor's office next to Mr Arafat's office.
A group of about 40 Western pacifists marched into Mr Arafat's headquarters, defying Israeli tanks and warning shots. The group pledged to stay there to protect the Palestinian leader from Israeli troops.
Israeli tanks have also moved into the West Bank town of Qalqilya. There were reports this evening of explosions and heavy machinegun fire and the electricity supply to the town was cut off.
Amid reports that the Israelis had threatened to storm his rooms unless wanted Palestinians were handed over, Mr Arafat told an American television network that he would rather die than surrender.
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, called for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian controlled territories and for an end to Israeli harassment of Mr Arafat.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources claim that two Palestinians were killed overnight during house-to-house raids by the Israeli Army in the West Bank. Yesterday evening, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up, injuring at least 29 people in an attack on a coffee shop in Tel Aviv. The Al-Aqsa brigade, a militant faction linked to Mr Arafat's Fatah organisation, said that it was behind the attack.
