Mideast Fighting Rages; Sharon Defies Bush

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.

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.

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.

"Why don't the Palestinians get their strips of land from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon or Iran."

'Cause there ain't no Jews to butcher and run into the sea there!

You keep lobbin' softballs, and I'll keep parkin' them! :-)

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.

touche

Mr Bush is turning out to be a delightfully droll buggar -- and has said to all who will hear:

"Believe what I do, not what I say! "

..... try selling them to Katie Couric, Phil Donahue and Sen Joe Biden.

"Selling?"

To that gang of looter bastards?

Not one of whom has ever in his life used his own money to buy even a sandwich?

[Although rumor does have it that KKKouric once parted with Thirty Bucks for a second-hand dildo. Last week]

I would like to understand why our good friend President Bush can claim UNLIMITED time to hunt down Osama Bin Laden and crush Al Qaeda and America won't withdraw without delay from Afghanistan, which is after all not with sight of New York, while on the other hand Israel has only a WEEK all of a sudden to deal with Yasser Arafat and crush the PLO and Israel is expected withdraw from places that are just over the border? Can someone explain to me the difference in the conduct of the war on terrorism? Color me confused. :)

Hopefully, Powell will go to Singapore and Australia to discuss the Mideast situation with those allies, and make courtesy visits to Japan, Honduras, and Upper Volta for consultations before finding his way to Tel Aviv.

Bush looks weak as usual. He should have stuck to his original policy, let Israel fight terror and evil. Sharon flipped him (us) the finger and he should have known that would happen and avoided it.

Israel is the smallest country around there.

I thought it was Lebanon.

I wonder how Bush would react if several million of our illegal aliens decided to form a new state using violence if necessary. Wait a minute we already know the answer to that. He would support them.

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