budanski
09-14-2003, 10:52 AM
Israel's SAS prepares to snatch Arafat
Sunday Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/login.php?grid=15&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesonline.co.uk%2Farticle%2F0%2C%2C2089-815776%2C00.html%3Fgavalidate&gareason=login)
Uzi Mahnaimi
AT a military base east of Tel Aviv, some of the Israeli army’s most highly skilled soldiers are in final training for an operation to storm Yasser Arafat’s headquarters, capture the Palestinian leader and expel him.
Israel’s security cabinet decided last week to “remove” Arafat, but did not say when. The decision prompted criticism from America and the United Nations Security Council, which warned that expulsion would be “unhelpful”.
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, is nevertheless expected to fly this week to the Kfar Sirkin base of Unit 767, Israel’s most secretive commando brigade, to watch a rehearsal.
Unit 767, the equivalent of Britain’s SAS, has not been involved in operations during the past three years to kill Palestinian terrorists. Its members have concentrated instead on intelligence gathering deep inside Arab countries.
Given the delicacy of the Arafat mission, however, Sharon believes that he needs the expertise of the unit that rescued 103 hostages in 1976 from a hijacked French airliner in Entebbe, Uganda.
During the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 1988 the commandos were sent to assassinate Khalil al-Wazir, Arafat’s deputy, at his villa in Tunis. This time their mission would be to capture Arafat unharmed, killing him only if he resisted.
A former officer who took part in the Entebbe raid said speed would be vital to any attempt to snatch Arafat from his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
“You need to finish it in less than five minutes from the moment you storm the place,” he said.
Military sources believe the operation would begin with a diversion — perhaps landing paratroopers far from Arafat’s headquarters, a converted former British fort, to distract the guards.
A maximum of 20 commandos, in another building 300 yards away, would then approach the compound silently. They would storm it by using explosives to blast a hole in a wall or, more likely, by blowing their way directly into the first-floor room where Arafat spends almost 20 hours a day.
The Israelis want to avoid a bloodbath and would have to exercise great care not to kill Arafat, who is accompanied at all times by one or two bodyguards with handguns and has said he would rather die than leave. His other 20 or more bodyguards are thought to be elsewhere on the same floor of the building.
“The potential of things going wrong, especially when everyone is expecting the attack, is very high,” said a source. “That’s why they chose the best soldiers.”
Arafat and two of his closest aides would be likely to be taken by car to a CH-53 helicopter and flown into exile in an Arab country such as Tunisia or Sudan. How Israel would deal with any violent Palestinian reaction remains unknown.
Amid growing international concern over the expulsion plans, Arafat yesterday accused the Israelis of planning to end limited self-rule granted to the Palestinians in the Oslo peace accords.
“The danger here concerns Israel’s determination to cancel the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinians as a partner,” he said during a meeting with diplomats to mark the 10th anniversary of the agreements.
“No one can deport me from my homeland, and that homeland of my fathers and forefathers.”
In a further sign of worsening tension, it emerged that Israel is planning a large-scale call-up of reserves for a possible invasion of the Gaza Strip to destroy the infrastructure of Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group. “We’ve got to a stage where pinpointed helicopter and jet attacks are no longer effective,” said a senior Israeli army source. “We’ll have to go in, the same way we did last year in the West Bank.”
According to the attack plan, the Gaza Strip would be divided into three parts, each of which will be invaded and controlled by an Israeli division. A total of 45,000 troops — most of them reserve soldiers — are likely to be involved.
The precise timing of any operation could depend on the Jewish holidays this month. If there are more suicide attacks this week, troops could move in before the Jewish new year on September 27. If the coming days are relatively peaceful, they would be more likely to wait until after the holidays.
Police sources said a suicide attack appeared to have been prevented after three belts of explosives were discovered in a district of Jerusalem. Security forces nevertheless remained on high alert.
Sunday Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/login.php?grid=15&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesonline.co.uk%2Farticle%2F0%2C%2C2089-815776%2C00.html%3Fgavalidate&gareason=login)
Uzi Mahnaimi
AT a military base east of Tel Aviv, some of the Israeli army’s most highly skilled soldiers are in final training for an operation to storm Yasser Arafat’s headquarters, capture the Palestinian leader and expel him.
Israel’s security cabinet decided last week to “remove” Arafat, but did not say when. The decision prompted criticism from America and the United Nations Security Council, which warned that expulsion would be “unhelpful”.
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, is nevertheless expected to fly this week to the Kfar Sirkin base of Unit 767, Israel’s most secretive commando brigade, to watch a rehearsal.
Unit 767, the equivalent of Britain’s SAS, has not been involved in operations during the past three years to kill Palestinian terrorists. Its members have concentrated instead on intelligence gathering deep inside Arab countries.
Given the delicacy of the Arafat mission, however, Sharon believes that he needs the expertise of the unit that rescued 103 hostages in 1976 from a hijacked French airliner in Entebbe, Uganda.
During the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 1988 the commandos were sent to assassinate Khalil al-Wazir, Arafat’s deputy, at his villa in Tunis. This time their mission would be to capture Arafat unharmed, killing him only if he resisted.
A former officer who took part in the Entebbe raid said speed would be vital to any attempt to snatch Arafat from his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
“You need to finish it in less than five minutes from the moment you storm the place,” he said.
Military sources believe the operation would begin with a diversion — perhaps landing paratroopers far from Arafat’s headquarters, a converted former British fort, to distract the guards.
A maximum of 20 commandos, in another building 300 yards away, would then approach the compound silently. They would storm it by using explosives to blast a hole in a wall or, more likely, by blowing their way directly into the first-floor room where Arafat spends almost 20 hours a day.
The Israelis want to avoid a bloodbath and would have to exercise great care not to kill Arafat, who is accompanied at all times by one or two bodyguards with handguns and has said he would rather die than leave. His other 20 or more bodyguards are thought to be elsewhere on the same floor of the building.
“The potential of things going wrong, especially when everyone is expecting the attack, is very high,” said a source. “That’s why they chose the best soldiers.”
Arafat and two of his closest aides would be likely to be taken by car to a CH-53 helicopter and flown into exile in an Arab country such as Tunisia or Sudan. How Israel would deal with any violent Palestinian reaction remains unknown.
Amid growing international concern over the expulsion plans, Arafat yesterday accused the Israelis of planning to end limited self-rule granted to the Palestinians in the Oslo peace accords.
“The danger here concerns Israel’s determination to cancel the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinians as a partner,” he said during a meeting with diplomats to mark the 10th anniversary of the agreements.
“No one can deport me from my homeland, and that homeland of my fathers and forefathers.”
In a further sign of worsening tension, it emerged that Israel is planning a large-scale call-up of reserves for a possible invasion of the Gaza Strip to destroy the infrastructure of Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group. “We’ve got to a stage where pinpointed helicopter and jet attacks are no longer effective,” said a senior Israeli army source. “We’ll have to go in, the same way we did last year in the West Bank.”
According to the attack plan, the Gaza Strip would be divided into three parts, each of which will be invaded and controlled by an Israeli division. A total of 45,000 troops — most of them reserve soldiers — are likely to be involved.
The precise timing of any operation could depend on the Jewish holidays this month. If there are more suicide attacks this week, troops could move in before the Jewish new year on September 27. If the coming days are relatively peaceful, they would be more likely to wait until after the holidays.
Police sources said a suicide attack appeared to have been prevented after three belts of explosives were discovered in a district of Jerusalem. Security forces nevertheless remained on high alert.