Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said for the first time in public today Israel has no plans to kill Palestinian President Yasser Arafat despite the Israeli government's vow to remove him from power.
Israel's security cabinet decided in principle last month to "remove" Mr Arafat and Mr Sharon's deputy Mr Ehud Olmert said killing the 74-year-old symbol of Palestinian nationalism was an option.
"I don't see any plans to kill him although the man is responsible for deaths of hundreds, of thousands of mostly civilians because his strategy is a strategy of terror," Mr Sharon told a group of European parliamentarians visiting Jerusalem.
His statement followed weeks of speculation on how and when Israel might carry out its threat to oust Mr Arafat, which has drawn an international outcry and strong US opposition.
Political sources had said Mr Sharon had ruled out assassinating Mr Arafat, but it was the first time the right-wing Israeli leader has done so publicly.
Israel accuses Mr Arafat of fomenting violence in a three-year-old uprising for independence. Mr Arafat denies the allegation and accuses Mr Sharon of waging of a war to annihilate the Palestinian people.
Some Israeli cabinet members have talked openly of expelling Arafat, who has been confined by Israeli tanks to his West Bank compound in Ramallah for much of the past two years.
Mr Sharon appeared to rule out exiling Mr Arafat in an interview earlier on October 17th, saying it would be damaging for Israel if it harmed him. But in a major policy speech on October 20th, he said Israel was determined to "remove" Mr Arafat.
Mr Arafat has had a recent spate of health problems but his doctors says he has no serious ailment.