The international community is pressuring Arafat to call off the violence. UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, French President Jacques Chirac, Jordanian King Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Arab League Secretary Amr Mussa, and other leaders have all called Arafat and demanded that he hold his fire.



However, Hamas and others have announced that they have the right to continue to \"defend themselves;\" Hamas political leader Khaled Mash\'al said that the attacks would not stop \"until the Zionist invasion is ejected.\" Arafat has released many Hamas terrorists from PA prisons over the past few months. Tanzim head Marwan Bargouti said today, \"The intifada and the armed resistance will continue for as long as even one settler or one soldier remains in the conquered Palestinian territories.\" Fatah\'s Gaza head Ahmed Hilas refused to confirm that the attacks would stop, but said only that the Palestinian organizations will meet today to coordinate their positions in light of Arafat\'s announcement. Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that Arafat is presently in Ramallah, and has not yet requested Israeli permission to fly to his Gaza headquarters.