Security Sources Confirm IDF Ready To Expel Arafat On Short Notice

Oct. 3, 2002

Security sources confirmed a report in the Maariv daily today that the Israeli military is ready to expel Arafat at short notice, if given the go-ahead from the government.

Commandos have practiced the operation, which would involve grabbing Arafat at his compound, bundling him into a helicopter and dropping him off in an isolated location in a foreign country, the sources said.

The sources said the commando unit had been placed on standby three times in recent months, including after a Passover suicide attack that killed 29 people in March and triggered a major Israeli offensive against Palestinian militants.

Maariv said that as part of the preparations, commandos scouted Arafat's intended location. It did not name the country to which Arafat would be flown, but Israeli television said several weeks ago that Libya was chosen as the place of exile.

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