Bullets fly at Church of Nativity

BETHLEHEM - Israeli troops fired shots at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem today and battled Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank towns of Jenin and Nablus, defying United States demands to end the offensive.

The Army, which says it has killed at least 200 Palestinians in its sweep for militants after a wave of suicide attacks, said the gunmen fired first from inside the church, one of Christianity's holiest sites. The gunmen denied firing first.

The incident is likely to fuel world anger and increase pressure on Israel, which has intensified its 10-day-old offensive since United States President George W. Bush demanded a withdrawal from Palestinian cities last week.

Reuters correspondents saw commandos on the roof of a convent next to the besieged church, where 200 Palestinian gunmen and civilians have been holed up since they burst in and took refuge with clergy last week.

A fire broke out in the compound but was extinguished.

Witnesses in the church said a Palestinian policeman inside the compound was killed, and the city governor said soldiers and two tank gunners were shooting at the church.

The Army said gunmen fired and threw grenades from the compound at soldiers surrounding it and troops fired back after two Israeli border policemen were wounded.

"This is an act of indescribable barbarity," said Father David Jaeger, spokesman for custodians of Catholic sites in the Holy Land, who is currently in Rome.

"It is a violation of every law of humanity and civilisation."

Israeli soldiers later raided the Palestinian village of Ashawera, east of Bethlehem, entering by helicopter and armoured vehicles.

Residents said the troops opened fire as they began searching homes for militants.

The Army had no immediate comment.

After heavy fighting at the weekend, some of the worst in more than 18 months of conflict, the United Nations Security Council today repeated its call for an Israeli troop withdrawal from West Bank cities.

A senior Army officer said Israel could not achieve its goal of crushing what it calls a Palestinian "terrorist infrastructure" by the end of the week, when US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives to seek a ceasefire.

Powell is expected to meet Arab and European leaders before heading to Jerusalem.

"It is regrettable that US 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 Palestinian news agency, WAFA, quoted a spokesman as saying.

Palestinians say the offensive, in which Arafat has been surrounded in his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah, is designed to reoccupy their cities permanently and topple the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli forces fired 19 missiles and tank shells yesterday at Jenin, where the Army has faced fierce resistance by scores of gunmen.

Sources in Jenin refugee camp said helicopter gunships had continued to fire missiles during the night.

The Army said it had detained 1413 Palestinians, among them 361 on its wanted list, since launching its offensive. A spokesman said he did not know how many of those detained had been released, calling the situation "very fluid".

Israel defends the roundups as a legitimate means of hunting down militants responsible for suicide bombings, shooting sprees and other attacks that have killed more than 100 Israeli civilians in the last month alone. But Palestinians call the mass arrests a form of collective punishment, meant to intimidate and humiliate them.

Some of the detainees say they have been beaten, tortured or deprived of food and water.

Among those singled out for the roughest treatment, several detainees said, were members of the Palestinian security forces. Khaled Hejjah, a 36-year-old policeman, said he and six colleagues were arrested in Ramallah on the first day of the incursion.

"They beat me and kicked me when they asked me questions," he said. "They said to me, 'If we found out you shot at us, you injured any of us, you will be dead.' And they kept us handcuffed all the time, so our hands swelled up."

Israel faced new violence today near its northern border with Lebanon. Hizbollah guerrillas attacked troops occupying the foothills of the Golan Heights and two towns in northern Israel. Israel responded by firing artillery and rockets into south Lebanon.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in the Islamic world to protest against Israel's offensive and US support for the Jewish state.

The biggest rally was in the Moroccan capital Rabat, where a Government official estimated 500,000 turned out.

Thousands of demonstrators, many of them Palestinian, marched throughout Lebanon.

In the centre of Beirut, about 3000 supporters of the militant group Hamas gathered in front of a UN regional headquarters. A similar demonstration organised by pro-Syrian Lebanese groups took place in the country's second city, Tripoli.

Several hundred thousand Sudanese condemned Israel and the US in one of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in the capital, Khartoum.

In Bahrain, thousands chanting "Death to America, Death to Israel" joined a funeral procession for a 24-year-old Bahraini who died of injuries suffered during a violent pro-Palestinian rally at the US embassy.

Other protests were held in Indonesia and Europe. But in New York thousands of demonstrators filled a city block near the UN to support Israel's offensive. A rally in Paris also backed Israel.

- REUTERS

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