RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - In Israel's latest move to pressure Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, troops Saturday seized the official Palestinian television and radio broadcasting building and blew it up. <br>
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But only hours after the early morning operation in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Palestinian broadcasting services were back on the airwaves. <br>
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The Voice of Palestine began broadcasting from a local Palestinian radio station in Ramallah, while Palestine television used alternative facilities in the Gaza Strip.<br>
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The Israeli operation came a day after tanks surrounded Arafat's headquarters in another part of Ramallah, with some moving to within a few yards of the compound gate. <br>
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The moves are part of a tough Israeli response to a Thursday night attack by a Palestinian gunman who opened fire on Israelis in a banquet hall, killing six and wounding dozens before police shot and killed him. <br>
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Before dawn Saturday, about a dozen Israeli tanks surrounded the hilltop broadcasting building, and Israeli soldiers entered the five-story complex. The Palestinians had evacuated the building before the soldiers arrived and there were no confrontations, witnesses said. <br>
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After a huge blast inside the building a couple hours later, flames engulfed the top floor and quickly spread to lower floors. By the time the fire was extinguished, the interior was gutted and the exterior blackened.<br>
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Parts of the building's interior collapsed, and shattered glass, a satellite dish and other debris littered the parking lot in front. <br>
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The Israeli army said it had confiscated equipment before blowing up the building. <br>
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``This is a criminal action,'' said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, the Palestinian cabinet secretary. He called the demolition part of a larger Israeli effort to destroy the Palestinian Authority. <br>
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Voice of Palestine moved into the offices of the private Amwaj station in the center of Ramallah to resume broadcasting a few hours later on an FM frequency, rather than the usual AM bandwidth, said Radwan Abu Ayash, the head of Palestinian Broadcasting Corp.<br>
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Israel has frequently accused the Palestinian Authority of using its television and radio facilities to broadcast inflammatory reports and comments that it says fuel the Mideast conflict. <br>
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Palestinian Broadcasting says its material reflects the mood among Palestinians, who feel besieged by Israel's military. <br>
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The Israelis have bombed Palestinian broadcasting offices in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip previously, knocking television and radio broadcasts off the air temporarily. But Saturday's operation was much larger in scope, destroying the building that housed the administrative offices and television studios for the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp. <br>
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The Palestinians still have a number of small, private television and radio stations that operate in the West Bank and Gaza.
