Israeli helicopters circle Arafat HQ

Israeli helicopters today hovered near Arafat’s headquarters in Gaza City, but eventually left without firing.

Returning to Gaza from a trip to Asia, Arafat briefly toured a destroyed police structure in Rafah. As he entered his car, he waved his pistol in the air and shouted: ‘‘You cowards!’’

In another incident, a Palestinian was killed in unclear circumstances near the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, Palestinians said.

His body was found in Israeli-controlled territory, they said, and Israel asked the Palestinians to send an ambulance to take the body.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Meanwhile, Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi criticised US President George W Bush for his latest comments about the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Bush called on Arafat to stop Palestinian violence and backed Israel’s refusal to negotiate ‘‘under terrorist threat’’.

Ashrawi said: ‘‘We have now a full and absolute American bias. An American president is parroting the Israeli point of view.’’

She said the Americans were ‘‘providing support to the point where they have become complicit to the crime’’.