The Israel Defense Forces has put up two new positions near the sole remaining building of Arafat's Mukata ex-compound. Of the 40-50 terrorists who were holed up together with Arafat in the Mukata for the last few months and during the recent siege, an unknown number managed to escape while the IDF was withdrawing earlier this week. This led to some rancorous words between Prime Minister Sharon and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, with Sharon blaming Ben-Eliezer. Ben-Eliezer's aides quoted high-ranking IDF intelligence figures as saying that the "heaviest" terrorists were afraid to escape, knowing that Israeli forces would catch them.



Six more Palestinian terrorists were arrested over the night, in various areas: Ramallah, north of Hevron, and Baka a-Sharkiye.