RAMALLAH, West Bank ? Israeli forces were positioned in at least two buildings overlooking Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s battered compound Tuesday, underscoring Israel’s insistence that wanted Palestinians still inside must surrender despite the hasty pullback of Israeli tanks from the site this week.

Inside, Arafat convened his Cabinet for the first time since before the siege. Its members, unhappy about the continued Israeli troop presence in Ramallah and other West Bank towns, also bitterly condemned U.S. legislation urging recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Israeli tanks crashed into the compound on Sept. 19 after a suicide bombing that killed six people in Tel Aviv. The Israeli forces lay siege to Arafat’s building and demanded the handover of 19 men who were among the 200 inside with the Palestinian leader. The U.N. Security Council and the United States demanded the siege end, causing Israel to retreat Sunday from the compound.

Palestinians saw the pullout as a significant victory, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who returned Tuesday from a two-day trip to Moscow came under scathing criticism from Israelis across the political spectrum for not having foreseen the operation would lead to an ignominious dead end.

But on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the “blockade” was continuing, though from a greater distance, “so that Israel can put its hands on all those inside who are suspects if they try to come out.”