The yellow bulldozers the Israeli army used to destroy houses in their collective punitive actions in the years of occupation were a familiar site in the city of Ramallah. The D9, Caterpillar-made bulldozer that arrived at the city centre in early April 2002 attracted nonetheless a special interest and concern. It was heading towards the Muqata, the compound, once the seat of the Israeli military governor of Ramallah and the West Bank and, since the days of Oslo, Arafat's residential headquarters in the West Bank. Arafat had a similar outfit in the Gaza Strip but, since the outbreak of the second intifada, was not allowed to use it, as part of the Israeli retaliation policy. This policy intensified after an escalation in the suicide attacks inside Israel, which culminated in the attack on Hotel Park in Netanya on Passover's Eve, 2002, killing forty people. That last attack prompted Operation Defence Shield. This operation included a harsh re-occupation of all the West Bank cities and villages, which was resisted by force, most courageously in the refugee camp of Jenin that was bombed and re-bombed in such a way that a huge hole cut the camp into two. The void consisted of piles of rubble covering a space where once stood a main street and houses in narrow alleys.