A team of doctors, some of them from Tunisia and Jordan, arrived at the Muqata in Ramallah to treat Arafat, according to the sources. A Palestinian official revealed that Arafat had collapsed Wednesday, was unconscious for about ten minutes and regained consciousness but remained in "very difficult situation."

Earlier on Wednesday night, a Palestinian cabinet minister said that Arafat is "very, very sick, and that a team of Jordanian doctors was urgently summoned to examine him.

Israel will let Arafat go for treatment anywhere he chooses, whether at home or abroad, Israeli officials said on Wednesday night.

"He can go for treatment anywhere he wants, in or out of the country," said one senior Israeli official, but added that the question of whether Arafat could return after was "a separate issue after he recuperates."

Officials also said Arafat's wife, Suha, who lives in France, was expected to arrive in Ramallah on Thursday.

Senior Palestinian officials, including current Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and the heads of various Palestinian security forces, are currently in his Ramallah headquarters. An ambulance and a team of doctors are also there to check on him.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo denied earlier reports that Arafat had lost consciousness.

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said he had seen the 75-year-old leader earlier on Wednesday, and that Arafat "was still recovering from stomach flu."

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said on Tuesday that Arafat was in pain because of serious "intestinal flu", but doctors flown in from Egypt and Tunisia expected him to be feeling much better in a few days. Shaath said the doctors had ruled out stomach cancer.

Confined to his headquarters for the past two years by Israeli forces, Arafat underwent a minor diagnostic procedure on Monday after complaining of stomach pains. Palestinian officials said then that an endoscopy found no serious ailment.

Questions about Arafat's health have raised Palestinian fears of a bloody succession struggle after his death since he has never picked a successor.