Following a wave of Palestinian suicide attacks that have claimed the lives of at least 44 civilians, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in an address to the people of Israel, declared that the Jewish State is "engaged in a war against terrorism."

"The state of Israel is in a war, a war against terrorism," the Israeli Prime Minister said in a nationally televised address Sunday night. "This is a war that was imposed on us. It is not a war that we decided to embark upon. This is a war over our home."

Mr. Sharon's speech came following one of the bloodiest periods of the 18-month Palestinian uprising against Israel.

In five separate terrorist attacks, beginning with a massacre at a Passover Seder at a seaside hotel in Netanya, which claimed the lives of 21 people, Palestinian suicide terrorists using explosive devices packed with nails and shrapnel have carried out a series of coordinated attacks against Israel.

Prime Minister Sharon said the attacks left Israel with no alternative but to "clean out the terrorist infrastructure" by launching a tightly coordinated military offensive in Palestinian controlled areas, including a siege of the Ramallah compound of Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader. Israel has called up 20,000 reservists in one of the largest military mobilizations since the 1982 war in Lebanon.

"This terrorism is activated, directed and initiated by one man: the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasir Arafat," Mr. Sharon said. "Arafat is at the head of a coalition of terrorism. He operates a strategy of terrorism. The chairman of the Palestinian Authority is an enemy of Israel. He is the enemy of the entire free world."

Mr. Sharon said that Israel's repeated efforts to seek a political resolution to the conflict, in cooperation with American mediators, have been met with, "terrorism, terrorism and more terrorism.

"We cooperated with the U.S. envoy, Anthony Zinni, and we received terrorism in return. We acted together with Vice President Dick Cheney, and we received terrorism in return. We decided to advance the prospects of a cease-fire and concede my demand for seven days of quiet, and we received terrorism in return. We withdrew military forces from the cities, and we received terrorism in return. Everything we received in return from our efforts was terrorism, terrorism and more terrorism."