Arafat blames Israel for latest violence
Yasser Arafat has blamed Israel for the latest outbreak of Middle East violence.
The Palestinian leader also accused Tel Aviv of attacking his people with "American weapons" and laying "a siege" over Palestinian settlements.
Fighting is raging in the Middle East after five people were killed in an attack by Palestinian militants on an Israeli military outpost in the southern Gaza Strip.
Mr Arafat told reporters: "They are using ... gas bombs, F-15, the Apaches, the tanks ... all these American weapons are being used against ... our women, our children, our villages and towns.
"We are facing a very difficult situation. Their siege is completely all over our cities, towns and villages."
He did not respond to comments by US President George Bush urging the Palestinian leader to "do a better job" of reining in militants.
In the Gaza attack, the two attackers approached the isolated Marganit military base and opened fire on the troops before dawn.
Soldiers shot back, killing one Palestinian. The second Palestinian tried to flee but was pursued and shot dead. Three soldiers were also killed.
In Gaza on Friday, 11 Palestinians, all but one of them children and teenagers, were wounded by Israeli army fire in three separate incidents.
Two of the wounded, a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, are in critical condition.
