JERUSALEM (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Israel launched air strikes on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's helicopter compound in the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday in retaliation for a devastating wave of Resistance bombings.
The upsurge of violence threatened to wreck a U.S. peace drive intended to help bolster Arab support for the U.S.-led anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan, and raised fears that 14 months of Middle East conflict could spiral out of control.
Addressing his occupier nation after the missile attacks, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon blamed Arafat for what he said was a war of terrorism and called him the biggest obstacle to peace.
Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told Reuters: ''Sharon tonight has declared war.'' He denied Arafat was to blame for 14 months of conflict and pointed the finger at Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.
An Israeli political source said the rapid succession of attacks was just the beginning of Israel's response to the weekend bombings that killed 25 people in Jerusalem and Haifa in one of the bloodiest coordinated onslaughts in years.
The militant Islamic group Hamas took responsibility for the bombings, which opened a bloody new phase in a conflict in which at least 742 Palestinians and 222 Israelis have been killed.