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Arafat Holds Gun on Returning to Gaza Strip
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat held his sub-machinegun in his own hand on Monday, December 4, while returning to Gaza City from a trip to Arab countries, including Yemen and Qatar.
This was an unusual for Arafat, who had not been seen holding a gun in public for years. He said it was because Jewish settlers blocked a main road he had to pass in order to reach his office in Gaza City.
Arafat's sub-machinegun is usually carried by aides, or kept in his office or house, according to Palestinian officials.
Arafat accused the Israeli army of cooperating with Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip in blocking the main road in the area. Without the help of Israeli army, the settlers could not have done this, he said angrily.
The Palestinian leader also condemned the Israeli attacks on Palestinian self-rule towns near Jerusalem and Bethlehem on Sunday, which injured some 30 Palestinians, five of them seriously.
Nearly 300 people have been killed, most of them Palestinians, and thousands more wounded since the ongoing clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians erupted on September 28.
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