So there probably was a suicide bomber involved, but his age has not been established.
| WRAPUP 1 - Palestinians ambush Israeli soldiers, killing 13 |
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By Wael al-Ahmad
JENIN, West Bank, April 10 (Reuters) - Palestinians ambushed
an Israeli military patrol in a West Bank refugee camp, killing
13 soldiers and dealing the army a blow that could undermine
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's peace mission.
Defying U.S. demands that Israel end its fierce, 12-day-old
offensive across the West Bank without delay, Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon vowed to press ahead with a campaign in which the
army said it has killed at least 200 Palestinians.
Tuesday's attack in the Jenin camp -- the deadliest strike
against Israeli troops in 18 months of conflict -- unfolded with
split-second precision as a booby trap exploded, a suicide
bomber blew himself up and gunmen opened fire from rooftops.
Israel disclosed the deaths just hours after withdrawing its
troops from two Palestinian-ruled cities in response to U.S.
pressure, but it gave no indication of when it would pull out of
other cities, towns and villages it has occupied since March 29.
The Palestinian death toll from fierce battles in the narrow
alleyways of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank
was expected to be high.
Witnesses said many corpses lay unretrieved in the streets
after days of fighting and Israeli bombardment. Palestinian
officials have estimated more than 100 people killed.
In the West Bank's largest city Nablus, six Palestinians --
one policeman and five civilians -- died in fighting on Tuesday,
Palestinian medics said. The army said a soldier was also
killed.
The army shelled a soap factory in the historic casbah of
Nablus in what a spokesman said was an effort to shut down a
Palestinian bomb-making operation. He said soldiers entering the
plant later found "tens of bombs ready to use".
U.S. President George W. Bush responded to the withdrawal
from Tulkarm and Qalqilya by demanding Israeli troops leave all
other West Bank cities they have invaded since a suicide bomber
killed 27 people at an Israeli hotel on March 27.
"The president believes all parties still have
responsibilities, (he is) still looking for results," a White
House spokesman said, adding Israel should withdraw from
Palestinian areas and "do so now".
Powell, in Egypt ahead of a visit to Israel later this week,
said Sharon had told him by telephone he wanted to end the West
Bank sweep for Palestinian militants as soon as possible.
But Israel launched a fresh incursion overnight in Dura near
the city of Hebron and Palestinian sources said about 70 people
had been detained. Witnesses said troops had also entered the
village of Kafr Ra'i near Jenin and shelled a police station.
BOOBY-TRAPPED BUILDING
Brigadier-General Ron Kitrey said a group of soldiers was
walking in a narrow alley in the Jenin camp when they were
ambushed early on Tuesday.
At least six or seven were killed when a booby-trap device
exploded and a suicide bomber detonated his load at the same
time, he said. Gunmen on rooftops then opened fire on a second
unit nearby, killing more troops.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the
attack. The camp is a stronghold of militant groups responsible
for suicide attacks that have killed scores of Israelis since an
uprising against occupation erupted in September 2000.
Major General Yitzhak Eitan, head of Israel's central
command, said: "We will continue to fight as long as necessary
despite the loss. We will continue until we make this camp
submit."
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the
army was attacking the camp with helicopters and knocking down
buildings with bulldozers to "finish this camp by tonight".
The deaths of so many soldiers on one day was a shock to
Israelis already in a sombre mood for Holocaust Remembrance Day,
honouring the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany.
'VERY TOUGH BATTLE'
"There was a very tough battle against the terrorist
organisations," Sharon said in remarks broadcast on Israeli
Channel One television. "It is a battle we will continue to
pursue according to the government's decision, until
we...dismantle the terrorist infrastructure."
The Jenin refugee camp has been the site of the fiercest
fighting in the Israeli offensive, which the government says is
rooting out suicide bombers.
Powell said he hoped the withdrawal from Qalqilya and
Tulkarm was the start of a wider disengagement.
"Let us hope that this is not a little bit of this and a
little bit of that, but the beginning of a pullback," he said.
Oil prices, which soared on Monday after Iraq announced a
one-month halt to oil supplies to protest at Israel's offensive,
fell on Tuesday on news of the partial withdrawal.
But the Palestinians dismissed the limited pullout as a
"lie" and a "manoeuvre".
Powell said all parties had to try to return to the
negotiating table for the ultimate goal of creating a state
called Palestine which would live in peace with Israel.
He made clear he planned to meet Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat, who is penned up in the city of Ramallah by
Israeli forces.
Powell arrived in Spain late on Tuesday for talks with
European Union, Russian and U.N. officials on the Middle East.
At least 1,247 Palestinians and 436 Israelis have been
killed since the Palestinian uprising began when talks on a
final peace settlement stalled.
((Jerusalem Bureau, +972-2-537-0502,
jerusalem.newsroom@reuters.com))
09 APR 2002 23:48:53
WRAPUP 1-Palestinians ambush Israeli soldiers, killing 13