The election of hardliner Ariel Sharon as Israel's prime minister and the spiraling violence culminated in Arafat being stripped of most of his power by Israel, and by Christmas 2001, he was under virtual house arrest at the PLO headquarters at Ramallah.
Despite Israel's threat to expel him, he continued to rally the Palestinian people. But age and years of deprivation take their toll, and in late October he was rushed to Paris, where his wife and daughter stay, after falling seriously ill. On November 11, after days of conflicting reports, he was officially declared dead.
Yasser Arafat waves to his supporters at the Arafat compound in Ramallah September 14, 2003.
Photograph: Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images
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