Israel crossed 'all red lines' says Arafat

The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat denounced Israel's killing of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, declaring a three-day mourning period and saying the Israelis had crossed "all red lines."

"President Arafat and the Palestinian leadership, with national and Islamic factions, condemn the crime of assassinating the hero Sheik Ahmed Yassin and the other brothers killed after praying in the mosque," the Palestinian Authority said in a statement.

"This cowardly crime will do nothing but increase the national unity among the Palestinians to confront the Israeli conspiracy, which has crossed all red lines," the statement said.

"Arafat and the Palestinian leadership ask the Palestinian people for more unity and to continue with steadfastness, emphasizing that there will be no stability without the removal of the occupation," it said.

Arafat declared the mourning period in the Palestinian territories and for the millions of Palestinians living abroad. The Palestinian Cabinet was scheduled to meet later Monday.

Yassin and at least seven other people were killed in an Israeli air strike early Monday as the Hamas leader exited a mosque in the Gaza Strip.