Israel starts West Bank withdrawal, but fighting reported in Gaza

11.50am

WASHINGTON - Hours after United States President George W Bush issued a stern new call for Israel to withdraw swiftly from Palestinian areas, troops prepared to pull out of two West Bank towns in what the White House called "a start".

But the 11-day-old Israeli offensive raged on elsewhere, including the Palestinian-ruled cities of Jenin and Nablus, and there was no indication of a withdrawal from other towns and refugee camps seized after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 27 people in an Israeli hotel on March 27.

The AFP news agency reported today that Israeli tanks and bulldozers pushed 250m into a Palestinian autonomous zone of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip overnight. The agency quoted Palestinian security and medical sources as saying Israeli troops opened fire, injuring at least one person, and were searching local houses.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer greeted Israel's announcement of a partial pullout from the West Bank with a terse statement. "As the president said last Thursday, all parties in the Middle East have responsibilities and the president expects all parties to step up to them."

In the face of four days of defiance from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Bush firmly declared during a trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, "I meant what I said."

Fleischer said that meant the pull-back should begin "now".

Sharon earlier had rejected Bush's calls for Israel to end its fierce offensive in the West Bank, as US Secretary of State Colin Powell launched a Middle East peace mission to try to broker an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.

"I meant what I said to the prime minister of Israel. I expect there to be withdrawal without delay," Bush forcefully told reporters, jabbing his finger in the air for emphasis.

By the time Bush returned to the White House on Monday afternoon, Israel Radio said the army would begin a pull-out from two West Bank cities within hours. Sharon had decided Israeli forces would leave the cities of Qalqilya and Tulkarm, according to the report.

US Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni also conveyed the president's strong feelings to Sharon in a meeting in Jerusalem.

Since last Thursday, Bush repeatedly has called on Israel to end its incursion into the West Bank and urged Arab leaders to use their influence to stop a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings that triggered the Israeli retaliation.

The president's demands and his personal intervention in the issue after months of less-intense involvement have created what may be the most serious test of his international leadership since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

His full commitment to stopping the Israeli offensive, which has been portrayed by Sharon as a parallel to Bush's own war on terrorism, already had been questioned by many Arab states, which noted that Powell was not sent directly to Israel, but was going to three countries on the way.

"It is a direct challenge to the president," said Charles Freeman, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia and now president of Middle East Policy Council, of Sharon's behaviour, although he said it was too soon to know what impact this might have on Bush's ability to govern.

Until late on Monday, Sharon had shown no signs of responding by stopping the Israeli offensive, and fighting raged. Arab leaders have yet to heed Bush's call and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has declined to disavow the suicide bombings in Arabic as Bush has demanded.

In a speech to the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, before he met Zinni, Sharon said he had promised Bush to try to end the campaign as soon as possible and floated a proposal for peace talks with "moderate" Arab leaders.

But he gave no indication a pull-out was imminent, saying Israeli forces must finish dismantling a "terror infrastructure" that he said was directed by Arafat.

Bush appeared determined and frustrated as he spoke to reporters in Knoxville. He said that the United States was committed to achieving peace in the Middle East "and I am firmly committed to what I expect from both sides."

"I repeat, I meant what I said about withdrawal without delay. Now I mean what I say when I call upon the Arab world to strongly condemn and act against terrorist activity."

Washington has some leverage in the $3 billion in foreign aid granted to Israel every year. But the leverage is limited by Israel's strong political support in the United States.

Asked what recourse the United States has if Sharon rejects Bush, Fleischer said only, "The president expects results."

- REUTERS

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