Arafat's confinement ends as Israeli troops kill 12

11.45 am

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lifted Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's three-month confinement to the West Bank city of Ramallah today but kept up punishing military raids in the West Bank.

Twelve Palestinians were killed when Israeli tanks and troops raided a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jabalya.

Witnesses said the troops and armour encircled Jabalya before entering from the north under the cover of darkness. Residents ran for cover and ambulances scrambled to deal with the wounded.

In addition to the 12 people killed, another 30 were wounded and taken to Gaza City hospital. The Israeli forces made access to Jabalya hospital impossible, Palestinian security officials said.

Israeli military sources confirmed an operation was under way in Jabalya, saying: "Ground forces are conducting searches and operating against terrorist targets."

The army has stepped up incursions into Palestinian-ruled areas as part of what it says is a campaign to root out militants who have killed scores of Israelis in a more than 17-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation.

A statement from Sharon's office said Arafat was released after he had met demands to arrest all the militants suspected of killing an Israeli cabinet minister last October.

He can now move freely in Palestinian Authority territory but any trip abroad by Arafat - such as a late-March Arab League summit in Beirut where a Saudi proposal for Arab-Israeli peace is expected to be discussed - will need approval by Israel, which controls borders and airspace in the West Bank and Gaza.

Sharon was easing up on Arafat as part of a carrot-and-stick policy gaining speed ahead of a new truce mission later this week by US Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni.

The Israeli leader has also lifted a demand for seven days of calm before entering into ceasefire talks -- while pledging to continue military assaults coinciding with daily Palestinian attacks inside Israel.

Sharon's double-edged policy appeared to be an attempt to appease those members of his coalition government who want peace moves and also right-wing parties clamouring for tough military action against the Palestinians.

- REUTERS

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