Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared an unfettered war on terrorism Monday, which he blamed directly on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, as Israeli fighter jets and helicopters pounded Palestinian cities and towns.
Amid a raging government debate over whether to oust Arafat from power and expel him from the region, Sharon's Cabinet early Tuesday pronounced the Palestinian Authority a \terror-supporting entity,"" setting the stage for further retaliations. Army troops and tanks thrust deep into several Palestinian cities overnight, advancing in the West Bank city of Ramallah to within 200 yards of Arafat's headquarters.
Israel also launched strikes elsewhere in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
The air raids and incursions were just the beginning of what Sharon promised will be a broad campaign of retaliation for a trio of suicide bombings and a shooting over the weekend.
Palestinian officials said the new offensive was a declaration of war not on terrorism but on Arafat and the Palestinian Authority.
Sharon went on national television Monday evening, holding Arafat ""directly responsible"" for all attacks against Israel.
He branded Arafat a terrorist and ""the biggest obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East"" in the past, the present and most likely the future. And he indicated he had received the blessing of President Bush to fight terror with all the means at Israel's disposal.
Arafat also called for an urgent meeting of the world's largest Muslim body, the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Qatari news agency reported.
