Posted on 04/07/2002 11:58:04 AM PDT by Democrats are liars
NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli forces pounded the West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin Sunday and battled gunmen in alleyways, defying U.S. calls to end an offensive which has sent the Palestinian death toll soaring.
The Israeli government hailed its West Bank campaign to root out Palestinian militants as a success, but a cabinet statement pointedly ignored President Bush (news - web sites)'s pressure to withdraw the troops from Palestinian cities without delay.
Israel is widely expected to continue its 10-day-old offensive until Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) visits the region later this week. Palestinians fear this means the army will intensify its assaults over the next few days.
The army, which has also suffered mounting casualties, said it had killed more than 30 armed Palestinians in close combat since Friday in Nablus, where it has met dogged resistance from gunmen who erected barricades and planted makeshift mines.
"There are constant battles -- fighting in alleyways, from house to house," Colonel Aviv Cochavi, commander of Israel's Paratroop Brigade, told Reuters by telephone.
"More than 30 terrorists -- armed people -- have been killed in the past 48 hours," he said about the fighting in the narrow casbah, or market, of the northern West Bank city. "Two Israeli soldiers were wounded."
White smoke hung in the air above Nablus after the attacks by tanks and helicopter gunships. Many buildings have been charred in some of the heaviest fighting since Palestinians rose up against Israeli occupation more than 18 months ago.
Israeli forces also fired missiles and tank shells at Jenin in a military campaign which it says is intended to halt a wave of attacks on Israelis launched from cities branded by Israel as "breeding grounds for terrorism."
Palestinians say the offensive, in which Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) has been surrounded in his West Bank headquarters, is designed to permanently reoccupy their cities and topple his Palestinian Authority (news - web sites).
The onslaught has caused uproar abroad. Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique, whose country holds the European Union (news - web sites)'s presidency, said the 15-member group would consider imposing sanctions on Israel if it kept rejecting cease-fire calls.
DANGER OF SECOND FRONT
Israel faced new violence near the northern border. Hizbollah guerrillas attacked Israeli troops occupying the foothills of the Golan Heights and Israel responded by firing artillery and rockets at positions in south Lebanon.
The Israeli government has expressed concern such clashes could open a new war front.
The cabinet gave a positive assessment of the West Bank offensive against the Palestinians, although the army had "suffered not a few losses."
"The prime minister pointed out that a difficult campaign is under way, and that much has been achieved," it said.
Sharon said at the start of the cabinet meeting that the offensive could not be hurried because Israel was trying to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties.
The army's spokesman, Brigadier-General Ron Kitrey, said the military had received no orders to change its battle plan. Sharon's office said he had told Bush by telephone only that Israel would make "every effort to accelerate" the operation.
In the United States, Bush's National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) said there was no mistaking the president's message to Sharon during the telephone call.
"While he does expect Israel to begin the withdrawal without delay, he understands that it can't be helter-skelter and chaotic. But he does expect this withdrawal to begin," she told CNN's "Late Edition."
Israeli commentators forecast the offensive, which has turned Palestinian city centers into war zones and confined hundreds of thousands of frightened residents to their homes, will go on for at least another week.
Opinion polls show the campaign has boosted Sharon's support. But Sharon is aware of the dangers of testing the patience of an ally which provides about $3 billion in annual aid, equal to three percent of its gross domestic product.
Fighting has intensified since Bush made his call for a withdrawal last Thursday and the Palestinians were unhappy that Powell looked unlikely to arrive until late this week.
"It is regrettable that Secretary of State Colin Powell has delayed his arrival in Palestine until next Friday, which will be used by Sharon to pursue his military plan," the official WAFA news agency quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying.
It repeated accusations of "slaughters and massacres" in Palestinian cities and refugee camps. Israel has dismissed the charges.
BATTLES RAGE
Palestinians have charged that innocent civilians have been bearing the brunt of the assault which began after a Palestinian suicide bomber struck in an Israeli hotel during a Passover holiday meal on March 27, killing 27 people.
Palestinian figures put the number of Palestinian dead in Nablus at 27. The army said at least 14 Palestinians and seven Israeli soldiers had been killed in the past 48 hours in Jenin, a stronghold of Palestinian militants.
An armed Palestinian told Reuters he had counted 30 dead bodies in the Jenin refugee camp.
In south Gaza, soldiers killed two Palestinians who tried to plant explosives near a Jewish settlement, Morag, the army said.
Israeli forces in the West Bank raided two villages near Ramallah and a village outside Hebron. The army said that since March 28 it had detained 1,413 Palestinians, among them 361 on its wanted list.
At least 1,214 Palestinians and 420 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.
Dear U.S.
Israel can not just now head your call to end the offensive. You know why? There are gunmen in alleyways.
Sincerely
Israel
Yup - now they are starting to get it. If you support terrorism, you are a terrorist.
Defies is definatly the wrong word we dont own israel nor do we need to carry them under a mothers wing ! if your freind says no to you does that mean your defieing them or that you just arent going to do it
I say let israel do what it needs to do egypt was evil in the past as well as palistine what makes people think they are going to be any different in the future
The only way there is going to be peace over there if if israel or palestine wins one or the other period if it just stopds without a triumphant winner then it will NEVER be over if they want it to stop they need to let them fight it out to the end weve got bigger fish to fry like saddam the insane and his bedbuddy osama bend over
So let israel do its thing
At some point we will have to decide: are we truly interested in battling terrorism where it really counts - in the alleys of the middle east and America?
Afghanistan is not New York. To battle terrorism effectively within the confines of modern nations, one has to overturn years of political correctness conditioning and liberal dogma. It may be too late to defend ourselves within our own borders from a determined enemy.
DITTO to that. It's way past time that the palies reap what they have been sowing.
It never seizes to amaze me how the press spins and toils. Bush is giving Sharon enough leverage to do what he needs to do as "expeditiously" as possible.
They were in the crowds supporting the "Palestinian" cause.
Good eye
A simple,clear cut and unambiguous statement.This is something I have known for years,but most Westerners and the Arab/Muslim/Islamic apologist press just cant seem to grasp this simple concept.
Go Ariel,kill as many of them as you can! Because each and everyone of them wants to kill you and the rest of the Jews in that region.
Palestinian State? What a joke.Just a pretext to slaughtering Jews.And after Israel? Who knows who the Arabs will target next,but you can be sure THAT will be revealed shortly. 9/11 should have awoken all of the West to Islam's intentions,but try selling them to Katie Couric,Phil Donahue and Sen.Joe Biden.
Correction: since Yasser Arafat started the anti-Jew terrorist campaign 18 month ago
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