Amid a raging government debate over whether to oust [Yasser Arafat] from power and expel him from the region, [Ariel Sharon]'s Cabinet early today pronounced the Palestinian Authority a "terror-supporting entity," setting the stage for further retaliation. Army troops and tanks thrust deep into several Palestinian cities overnight, advancing in the West Bank city of Ramallah to within half a mile of Arafat's headquarters, where the Palestinian president was spending the night.

To be sure, the blood-soaked conflict between Israel and the Palestinians was entering uncharted waters. The weekend was the deadliest such period for Israelis in many years, and the nation remained on high alert for more Palestinian suicide bombers. Rarely has the mood here been more grim. About 1,000 people have been killed- -three-quarters of them Palestinians--in the more than 14 months since peace talks collapsed and Palestinians launched an uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Today, Arafat is weak, Palestinians are impoverished, and Israelis are terrified. People on both sides have become radicalized as a cycle of death and revenge has accelerated.

The Cabinet is divided on this point, and ultimately Sharon's need to keep his broad coalition government together probably will prevent such a drastic move. Most analysts see attempting to remove Arafat as impractical, if not impossible, and certainly counterproductive. Shimon Peres, Israel's dovish foreign minister, is among those who warn that the radical Islamic movement Hamas might be the force to rise to replace Arafat, sweeping away any chance for dialogue. And Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer insisted that the elimination of Arafat is not Israel's goal.