Israeli plan is to make Palestinians kneel, says Arafat

Yasser Arafat has accused Israel of escalating military operations against the Palestinians.

The Palestinian leader called it part of a plan to force his people to "kneel down".

Mr Arafat's remarks came hours after Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen traded fire in a pre-dawn shootout in the Gaza Strip, leaving four Palestinian civilians wounded.

The Israeli army said its forces responded to fire from a Palestinian house in the town of Khan Yunis. The elderly Palestinian man, Nasser Abu Shanab, was hit in the chest and seriously wounded, according to Palestinian security officials.

Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered the Rafah refugee camp, flattening agricultural land and firing tank shells, Palestinian security officials said.

On his return to Gaza from a trip to Tunisia, Mr Arafat was asked about the recent Israeli military actions.

"This is something which we were expecting," he said. The Israeli leadership "had a plan and every one of them was talking about it, and they want to escalate this plan" .

The Israelis "thought they could make the Palestinian people kneel down, but they forgot that we are courageous people. We cannot give up, and we will not kneel down, and we will not surrender," he said.