Palestinian gunmen slay 'collaborators'

TULKARM - Palestinian gunmen killed eight suspected collaborators last night as Israeli forces tightened their siege of Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah.

The two masked Palestinians entered an intelligence building in the West Bank town of Tulkarm and massacred the prisoners, who were awaiting trial on suspicion of collaborating with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has vowed an "uncompromising war" against terrorism, earlier sent tanks and troops under cover of darkness into the West Bank town of Qalqilya in response to a wave of suicide bombings by defiant Palestinian militants.

Residents reported heavy machinegun fire and blasts and said the Israelis had cut power and water supplies before moving in.

The Army said one soldier was badly wounded and seven were hurt when an explosive detonated during a house search.

Near Bethlehem, gunfire erupted as two Israeli tanks, four armoured troop carriers and a bulldozer moved through a village towards the Deheisheh refugee camp.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. Scores of Israeli tanks were also poised on the edge of Tulkarm. The Army said troops had cordoned off the town.

Security sources said Palestinian officers guarding the intelligence building in Tulkarm fled their posts when the Israeli tanks moved towards the town, fearing they would come under attack.

That allowed the two gunmen to enter and kill the suspected collaborators.

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered to view the bodies after they were dragged out to the road. The gunmen fled.

The killing was the deadliest attack on men suspected of helping Israel track wanted militants since the start of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation 18 months ago.

The latest Israeli incursions into Palestinian-ruled towns followed a televised speech to the nation by Sharon, who promised an "uncompromising war to uproot these savages" and crush what he called a terror campaign directed by Arafat.

Sharon's tough message followed a day of violence in which a suicide bomber killed 15 people in a Haifa restaurant and Arafat's guards battled besieging Israeli troops.

The Army, which has turned Ramallah into a closed military zone while it hunts for Palestinian militants, said it had rounded up more than 500 men for interrogation.

Yesterday, Israeli troops shot at a commercial building in Ramallah where about 30 people, including some Palestinian policemen, were holed up. There was no return fire. Ambulances were denied access.

A Palestinian doctor said the bodies of two men, one in his 50s and one in his 20s, were later recovered from the building. The younger man's head had been smashed in.

Violence raged on despite an Easter Sunday appeal for peace by the Pope and a call by the United Nations for Israel to withdraw its troops from West Bank cities.

At least 1127 Palestinians and 398 Israelis have died since the Palestinian revolt against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip began.

- REUTERS

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