US aims at Israeli reprisal raids

TULKARM - Israel sent tanks into the Palestinian-ruled city of Tulkarm and made deadly air raids in the West Bank last night despite a rare rebuke from the United States over reprisal raids.

The rapid attacks, in which two people were killed in a missile strike on a refugee camp, added to the fast-rising death toll in Middle East violence that appears to be spiralling towards all-out war.

Dozens of tanks occupied positions throughout Tulkarm in the northern West Bank, a helicopter gunship fired a missile in the area and jet fighters attacked security targets in Palestinian-ruled Bethlehem.

The Israeli assaults came just hours after an air raid on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters in Ramallah.

Arafat, who has been confined to Ramallah by Israeli forces for three months, was meeting European Union Middle East envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos in his office when a missile slammed into a store room in a nearby building. No one was hurt.

Israel said the attack was part of its "war against terror". But Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rdainah said it was "very dangerous".

As tit-for-tat fighting reached new heights, Washington - Israel's staunchest ally - weighed in with some of its toughest criticism yet of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"If you declare war on the Palestinians and think you can solve the problem by seeing how many Palestinians can be killed - I don't know that leads us anywhere," said US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Israeli forces cut electricity to Tulkarm and at least 50 tanks rumbled in.

Troops took over the home of a senior official of Arafat's Fatah movement, said Palestinian sources.

Tanks also surrounded the Nour Shams refugee camp east of Tulkarm.

A helicopter gunship fired a missile that hit a street inside the camp, killing two people.

Jet fighters later attacked and destroyed a building in Bethlehem that housed a security headquarters, offices of Arafat's elite Force-17 unit and a military medical facility.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes against Palestinian areas in retaliation for Palestinian shooting attacks and suicide bombings against Israelis.

Last night's reprisals followed a similar ground offensive across the Gaza Strip and other clashes in the West Bank in which 13 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed.

Arafat was talking on the telephone with Israel's Foreign Minister Shimon Peres when the missile hit his compound. Peres has talked about leaving Sharon's coalition if the Government continues to use force rather than engage in dialogue with Palestinian leaders.

But a defiant Sharon told Israeli troops that the military campaign against the Palestinian Authority would be unrelenting until "the other side understands it cannot achieve anything by using terror [then] it will be easier to start negotiations".

Sharon's popularity in opinion polls has dropped to a record low as he struggles to satisfy right-wing coalition partners' demands for intensive military force against the Palestinians and leftist pressure for peace talks.

Powell told a congressional hearing he was sceptical of the effectiveness of Sharon's plan. But he also repeated the routine US appeal to Arafat to do more to crack down on Palestinian militants who attack Israelis.

Sixty thousand additional gun permits will be distributed to Israeli civilians as authorities loosen licensing restrictions to meet a growing wave of terrorism.

Armed civilians have played a big role in bringing down terrorists in the current Palestinian uprising.

The latest example was during an attack this week by a Palestinian gunman on a Tel Aviv restaurant where a wedding party was under way. A 46-year-old civilian shot dead the terrorist after three people had been killed.

Guns will also be issued to firefighters and municipal inspectors while they are on duty. Most Israelis are Army veterans and are familiar with firearms.

There are already 265,000 guns in civilian hands, especially in border areas and in the occupied territories.

New bylaws will force large businesses to post armed guards outside their buildings. The law will apply to any business with more than 500 sq m of floor space as well as hotels, cinemas and other locations that draw large crowds. Police patrols will be increased around schools and kindergartens.

Reflecting the counter-terror preparations was an article in the Yediot Achronot newspaper, headlined "What to do opposite an armed terrorist".

In the article, a retired police officer suggested people should run to avoid being an easy target. The officer said that while there was a danger that civilians firing at a gunman might hit other civilians, the risk had to be accepted to stop terrorists using automatic weapons.

Despite the uneasiness caused by the terror attacks, the dominant sentiment appears to be a desire to strike back at the Palestinians. The Palestinians, likewise, speak mainly of a desire for vengeance.

- HERALD CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS

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