Offensive moves into Bethlehem
By IBRAHIM HAZBOUN
Associated Press

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Israeli tanks rolled into Nablus on Wednesday and battled Palestinian gunmen at street barricades, taking Israel’s offensive into the West Bank’s largest city. In Bethlehem, troops encircled scores of Palestinians inside one of Christianity’s holiest shrines — the Church of the Nativity.

Shellfire thundered as Israeli tanks entered Nablus, witnesses said. About 300 to 400 tanks surrounded the city of more than 100,000 people, where Palestinian gunmen and police roamed the streets, closing roads with sand bags and planting homemade mines.

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli forces took over the Palestinian towns of Jenin and Salfit and surrounded the Jenin refugee camp, a militant stronghold.

Israeli tanks and helicopter gunships exchanged fire with hundreds of armed men in the camp. Three militiamen, a nurse and a 13-year-old boy were killed in the fighting, militia leaders said.

Israel’s West Bank offensive — dubbed “Operation Protective Wall” — seeks to crush Palestinian militias after a wave of terror attacks against Israelis. Israeli forces have entered six major Palestinian towns and several villages since Friday.

In Bethlehem, Israel and the Palestinians remained locked in a standoff over scores of Palestinian police and militiamen as well as priests, nuns and civilians holed up in the Church of the Nativity, built over the area where tradition says Jesus was born. The armed men had forced their way into the shrine Tuesday, after hours of intense fighting with Israeli forces.

The Palestinians rested in pews and on the stone floor. Samir, a Palestinian policeman, denied Israeli charges that shots were fired from the church. “Most of the guys have run out of bullets and secondly, we’re completely surrounded,” said Samir, who would not give his last name.
The Israeli army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ron Kitrey, said Israel would not use force to drive out the gunmen but would not let them go free.

Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the gunmen “abuse churches ... as a place from which they can conduct their attacks on our forces.” Israel says its forces are under orders not to harm holy places.

Israel ignored requests to deliver food and medicine to the church, where about 200 people were trapped, the Palestinian governor of Bethlehem, Mohammed Madani, said. Ten of the gunmen were wounded, including one who was in critical condition, Madani said.

Tanks were stationed at the edge of Manger Square, where the church is located, and troops occupied the municipality building overlooking the square, Bethlehem Mayor Hana Nasser and other witnesses said.

The bodies of four gunmen shot dead in a firefight Tuesday remained sprawled on a side-street near the church, with rescue services unable to reach them because of constant shooting. Two more bodies were found later Wednesday, one in a mosque and one in a church. U.S. officials escorted some 20 foreigners, including Americans and Britons, out of Bethlehem in an armored convoy.

President Bush repeated his support Wednesday for Israel’s offensive. “In the wake of the suicide bombings and the attacks that took place in Israel, he understands and respects Israel’s right to defend herself,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

But with the assault expanding, daily protests in Arab nations have grown more violent. Thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians clashed with security forces Wednesday outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, with at least 25 reported injured as protesters threw stones and security forces used tear gas and water cannons.

Under pressure to cut off ties completely with Israel, Egypt took a more limited step Wednesday, announcing it would suspend all diplomatic contacts with Israel except those aimed at helping the Palestinians.

At least 30 Israeli tanks rumbled into the northern West Bank town of Jenin from all sides, exchanging fire with Palestinians at the entrance of a nearby refugee camp. Israeli forces took over several tall buildings that provided views into the camp.

Among those killed in the camp were a 27-year-old nurse and Ziad Amer, local leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a militia linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah group. “We will not surrender,” Amer said in a phone interview just before his death. “We will fight until victory or death.”

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