JERUSALEM – Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said yesterday Israel’s attack on the Voice of Palestine building was “extremely dangerous” – but Israel stood its ground, saying the attack was necessary.
Arafat, still confined by Israeli forces at his Ramallah compound, said after meeting a delegation of Italian religious leaders, “They have crossed all red lines.”
But Israeli government spokesman Arie Mekel said Voice of Palestine had “long been a center of incitement against Israel,” which would “continue to do whatever necessary” to protect its citizens to avoid a repetition of the Thursday’s bat mitzvah attack in Hadera.
Israeli military experts stormed and dynamited the official offices of the Palestinian broadcasting building in the West Bank yesterday morning.
Around 5 a.m., Israeli troops surrounded the Palestinian Broadcasting Service, which housed Voice of Palestine, the Palestinian radio operations, in Ramallah, preparing to make a symbolic strike.
Israeli engineers and explosive experts rushed into the building, evacuating workers and planting dynamite on the top three floors of the five-story structure.
Upon detonation, a fire, which lasted an hour, swept and gutted the structure, which stood less than a mile from Arafat’s headquarters.
No one was hurt in the blast.
Israeli sources said that more strikes were imminent.With Post Wire Services