Jerusalem: In an ominous warning, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah are not immune to targeted assassinations, as anyone "who harms an Israeli citizen is a marked man."

"I wouldn't suggest either of them feels immune...Anyone who kills a Jew or harms an Israeli citizen, or sends people to kill Jews, is a marked man. Period," he told 'Ha'aretz' daily in an interview published today (Apr 2, 2004), when asked if Arafat and Nasrallah were targets for assassination.

Sharon also said once the separation fence is completed, the Government would act vigorously to expel Palestinians living illegally within Israeli Arab communities.

Following last week's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon had also said that the responses of Arafat and Nasrallah showed that "they understand that this is approaching them."

The Prime Minister asserted that there are tens of thousands of illegal Palestinians in the country.

"We have a difficult problem with the fulfilment of their desire to return by infiltrating Arab cities and villages in Israel," he said in the interview to be published fully on Monday (Apr 5, 2004).

"Now it is a very difficult problem because of the absence of a fence. The minute the fence is closed, the activity to remove them will be much more vigorous, and their ability to return will be greatly reduced. Now, when they are found (and expelled), they come back."