Siege continues at Arafat's compound

Israel declared an end to its demolition of Yasser Arafat’s West Bank headquarters, maintaining a siege around the building and demanding surrender of all the people inside, but Palestinian defiance intensified.

Palestinian leaders declared a general strike today, appealed to the Arab world for help and called on their people to resist the Israeli operation, which started after a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a Tel Aviv bus, killing himself and six others.