Israel staged an intense military campaign Monday night as tanks, helicopters and F-16 jets struck the West Bank city of Jenin for hours, and bulldozers tore down dozens of Palestinian homes, Palestinians inside the city said.
The apparent assaults came after 13 Israeli soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded during an offensive on a refugee camp there Tuesday.
"An army patrol by reserve soldiers was ambushed during operations in the Jenin refugee camp," the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement. "The ambush included the use of explosive devices detonated against them and gunfire from nearby rooftops."
The toll was the heaviest single blow to Israel's army since the start of a more than 18-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israel. Palestinian officials estimate more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the battles inside the Jenin refugee camp over the last week.
News of the ambush came amid unconfirmed reports from Palestinian and Israeli sources that some Israeli soldiers were taken prisoner in Jenin.
However, there was no independent confirmation of the capture since the town has been declared a "closed military zone" to the media.
The army also said it discovered a bomb factory in the town and blew it up.
Speaking to reporters in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he would meet with besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during his trip to the region this week.
Powell said he hoped to meet with Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about a truce and political talks leading to creation of a Palestinian state. It was the first official declaration of a meeting between Powell and the Palestinian leader.
Sharon Vows to Continue Offensive
Shortly after the ambush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the military offensive in the West Bank would continue until what he called "the organizations of terror" were crushed.
Sharon's comments appeared to be a setback to US efforts to get the Middle East peace process back on track.
Tuesday's deadly fighting in Jenin came hours after Israeli forces completed their withdrawal from two West Bank cities following intense US pressure, only to move into another town.
Israeli tanks and troops pulled out of the center of Qalqilya and Tulkarm in the central West Bank after the Israeli Defense Ministry said it had "dealt a heavy blow to the terrorist infrastructure." But troops would maintain a security cordon around the towns, Israeli military officials said.
Israeli forces also invaded the southern West Bank town of Dura on the 12th day of its military offensive.
Palestinian Skepticism Over Withdrawal
While Arab anger over the current Israeli offensive has been high, Israel Tuesday agreed to allow Arafat to meet with four of his senior advisers ahead of Powell's visit on Friday.
Arafat remains confined to his Ramallah headquarters.
Some Middle East experts have seen the partial pullback as an Israeli gesture of good faith, but Palestinian leaders have been dismissive.
"This is a new Israeli lie because as they pulled back they tightened the siege on the two cities and entered new areas," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told reporters on Monday.
Powell: US to Put US Observers in Region
Powell also voiced support for the inclusion of a political component to the peace process that would point the way to the ultimate formation of an independent, viable Palestinian state.
The Bush administration has, in the past, mirrored the Israeli demand for a complete cease-fire before peace talks could resume.
Addressing a spirited joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher in Cairo Tuesday, Powell also said Washington was willing to post US observers in the region as part of a truce settlement.
"The United States is prepared to put US observers on the ground," said Powell.
Powell's comments came a day after he met Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in the Moroccan city of Casablanca. A spokesman for Crown Prince Abdullah, the author of the Saudi peace proposal, said the oil-rich Arab kingdom would not offer his support to the Middle East peace process until the Israelis withdrew completely, there were US monitors on the ground, and there was international help in rebuilding the destroyed Palestinian infrastructure.
And in Cairo, Maher warned that Arafat must be respected as the rightful leader of the Palestinian people.
Egypt is one of only two Arab countries that has a peace treaty with Israel, but last week, it announced it was severing all but diplomatic contacts with its Jewish neighbor.
In what was widely seen to be a show of the growing Arab irritation over Washington's handling of the situation, King Mohammed of Morocco kept Powell waiting for hours before meeting with him on Monday.
US officials have denied accusations that Powell's failure to rush to the region has, in effect, provided Israel with a green light to continue its military offensive.
Offensive Rolls On
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks and troops moved into Dura overnight as witnesses said there was fighting near a cemetery on the outskirts of the town.
Residents of the neighboring town of Hebron said several Israeli tanks had rolled into the town this morning but later turned back.
It was not known if the movement was part of a brief incursion, but residents of the Hebron told reporters they feared the worst.
So far, the Israel army is present in five West Bank towns and cities: Ramallah, Bethlehem-Beit Jala, Nablus, Jenin and Dura.
In Nablus Tuesday ambulances were let in for the first time in a week to collect the wounded. They came out on foot, on stretchers, one, even on an old wooden cart. Humanitarian groups were also allowed in briefly to deliver food and medicine.
At the Church of the Nativity, which marks the traditional birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, the standoff between Palestinian gunmen and civilians and Israeli troops entered its second week with no signs of a resolution.
And in occupied Ramallah, Palestinian residents scrambled to get basic supplies during a brief curfew lifting.
Protests Greet Powell
Tens of thousands of students demonstrated in Cairo and the Nile delta city of Tanta as Powell arrived in the Egyptian capital on the second leg of his Mideast tour.
Calling the recent Israeli invasion a "terrible mistake," Jordan's King Abdullah said his country would provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinian areas and urged Israel to allow it into the area. Powell is scheduled to meet with King Abdullah later this week.
Syrian UN Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe told the Security Council on Monday that Lebanon has "no intention whatsoever to open a new front." Syria is the main power broker in neighboring Lebanon. Israeli troops have been firing missiles in the volatile Cheeba Farms area on the Israeli-Lebanese border following attacks on Israeli military targets by Hezbollah, a militant Islamic group.
(China Daily April 10, 2002)
