Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is under siege in his presidential compound today but is still spitting defiance at Israeli troops who launched an unprecedented attack on his power base.
The violence sweeping the region for the past 18 months shifted up a gear after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared Mr Arafat an enemy and ordered an offensive, backed by tanks, against his Ramallah headquarters early yesterday.
The move, which brought widespread international condemnation, left Mr Arafat in one of the most perilous positions of his long career and fuelled speculation Sharon had started an endgame to oust his long-time foe.
It also dealt a severe setback to hopes raised by an Arab summit's endorsement this week of a Middle East peace plan.
Opening a late emergency debate at the United Nations Security Council in New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told Israel to halt its assault and said Palestinians must stop "horrific terrorist attacks" against Israeli civilians.
Israeli forces, in a hard-hitting response to a suicide bombing which killed 22 Israelis on Wednesday, used armoured bulldozers to smash their way into Mr Arafat's West Bank headquarters and battled his forces from room to room.
At least six Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed in some of the fiercest fighting since the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began 18 months ago. Scores of suspected militants were arrested.
Egyptian and Palestinian officials said the Israeli attacks were a declaration of war and Arab summit host Lebanon said the move was an attack on the peace plan, which proposed "normal" Arab ties with Israel if it returned occupied Arab land and allowed the creation of a Palestinian state.
Early today, an Israeli armoured column entered the Palestinian town of Beit Jala, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, exchanging fire with local gunmen, Palestinian witnesses said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the ensuing clash. The army had no immediate comment on the incursion by seven armoured vehicles, including two tanks.
Mr Arafat, his gun at his side, remained defiant.
"Nobody is shaken, afraid, or retreating," Arafat said in a telephone interview aired on Palestinian television. "We are going to Jerusalem, giving millions of martyrs on the way."
Aides moved him to another building in his compound.
"Arafat is in good spirits. He is busy on the phone to world leaders," said one of his top aides, Nabil Abu Rdainah.
Mr Sharon has accused Arafat of establishing a "coalition of terror". He said Israel would remove the "foundations of terror" but had no interest in reoccupying West Bank and Gaza Strip areas handed over to Palestinian administration in the 1990s.