Bush hopeful as Mideast violence returns

HEBRON - Dozens of Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gunships swept into the divided West Bank city of Hebron yesterday, killing seven people.

The Israeli Army said it was searching for suspects, arms and explosives following Palestinian attacks launched from the city, such as Saturday's assault on a nearby Jewish settlement that killed four Israelis, including a 5-year-old girl.

But there was no intent to undermine Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, the Army said.

The Hebron raid came as a month-long siege of Arafat's West Bank headquarters appeared to be nearing an end after both sides accepted United States President George W. Bush's proposal to send American and British wardens to guard six wanted people.

But Israel dug in its heels over a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Jenin refugee camp, and talks with Palestinians failed to end a standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Bush said the deal to end Arafat's siege marked "a hopeful day for the region".

The proposal calls for Israeli forces to leave Arafat's compound in the city of Ramallah and let him travel anywhere once six people, including four involved in the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister, are moved to a Palestinian prison where they will be guarded by the US and British wardens.

"Chairman Arafat is now free to move around and free to lead, and we expect him to do so," Bush said at his ranch.

"Mr Arafat must perform. Mr Arafat must do his job [by halting Palestinian attacks on Israelis].

"He must earn my respect by leading."

Hebron, where 400 Jewish settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves among 120,000 Palestinians, was the only major West Bank city not reoccupied during a crushing Israeli offensive that started a month ago and began winding down last week.

Israel launched the offensive after a wave of Palestinian suicide attacks that killed dozens of Israelis.

Witnesses in Hebron said tanks and armoured vehicles, supported by helicopter gunships, entered the city from two directions before dawn yesterday, killing at least seven people and wounded several others.

The Army said its troops had come under Palestinian fire but did not suffered casualties.

The operation to arrest terrorists and search for munitions "is expected to end shortly and is not intended as a strike against the Palestinian Authority", the Army said.

It claimed that Hebron was the base of gunmen from the militant group Hamas who had killed four Israelis in nearby Adora settlement on Saturday, and that there was intelligence of other attacks being planned there.

In New York, the UN Security Council began talks to discuss its response to Israel's latest request for a delay to the UN fact-finding team on Jenin who have been waiting in Geneva since Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres again said Israel had nothing to hide at the camp, but was concerned at possible legal implications for Israeli witnesses who might testify.

"We can't tell our soldiers: 'You volunteer, you fight, on top of that you have to take lawyers'," he said.

Palestinian leaders said talks with US and British experts were to start late yesterday to work out the details of Bush's plan to restore Arafat's freedom of movement.

Peres said the men would be moved to a special camp under the deal which, he added, "will give freedom of movement to Chairman Arafat and allow us to leave Ramallah".

Arafat has been confined to his headquarters since December and has been besieged by Israeli tanks since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon launched the West Bank offensive.

Bush called Israel's acceptance of his compromise "helpful and constructive".

The White House said Sharon would visit the US soon for talks with Bush.

Israel had demanded the extradition of the wanted men as a condition for ending its siege of Arafat's offices.

A hastily convened Palestinian military court in the besieged headquarters last Thursday convicted four men of assassinating ultra-nationalist Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in October.

Israel says Fuad Shubaki, suspected of smuggling arms for the Palestinian Authority, will also be jailed under foreign guard as part of the Bush deal.

The identity of the sixth man was unknown.

The radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which said it assassinated Zeevi to avenge Israel's killing of its leader, had urged Arafat to reject the US plan.

Israel withdrew last week from most West Bank towns and cities to nearby positions.

However, it has kept forces around Arafat's headquarters and the Church of the Nativity.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have reached no agreement in talks over the 26-day-old standoff between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen holed up inside the church, which is revered by Christians as marking the birthplace of Jesus.

- REUTERS

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