Israel: We Will Not Pull Forces

Israel: We Will Not Pull Forces
By Mark Lavie
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2001; 10:45 a.m. EDT

JERUSALEM –– Defying the United States, Israeli officials said Tuesday that they will not pull military forces out of six West Bank towns until they have crushed militant Palestinian groups responsible for attacks on Israelis.

In unusually blunt language, the United States urged Israel Monday to withdraw immediately from Palestinian territory and launch no more raids.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, thousands of Palestinians joined the funeral procession Tuesday for Ayman Halaweh, a bombmaker who was killed when his car exploded Monday. The crowd chanted "revenge, revenge." Palestinian security officials blamed Israel for the blast.

Without acknowledging involvement, Israel said Halaweh topped its most-wanted list. It said 48 people were killed and 295 injured in suicide bombings Halaweh was involved in, including a June blast outside a Tel Aviv disco that killed 22.

In the biblical town of Bethlehem, dozens of clergymen from the major Christian denominations in the Holy Land led a march of 6,000 Palestinians from an Israeli military checkpoint to the Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born.

"God of peace, give our land peace," the crowd chanted as Israeli troops and tanks moved aside.

The march followed fighting that erupted overnight in Bethlehem between Palestinian gunmen and Israel troops patrolling in tanks. The Holy Family Hospital, a maternity hospital and orphanage run by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent, came under fire, but no one was injured.

Three Israeli tank shells hit the laundry room and an empty guest house, and bullets shattered several windows, including a stained-glass window in a chapel in the compound.

Sister Munira Jabali said the firefight lasted for seven hours and that the 60 children sleeping in the orphanage were moved into the hallways for safety.

Israeli army spokesman Lt. Col. Olivier Rafovitch denied that Israel fired at the orphanage, hospital or guest house. He said Palestinian fire might have hit the buildings. He said the Israeli military does not fire at church property, and if Palestinians fire from church courtyards, "we do not even fire back."

The Palestinians have accused Israeli troops of firing indiscriminately, without regard for civilians. Israel has said it is targeting suspected militants who it said are often using civilians as human shields.

More than 50 people, including some bystanders, have been killed in Israeli attacks targeting suspected militants during a year of fighting.

The Bush administration issued its harshest criticism yet of the Israeli incursions Monday, rejecting Israel's arguments that the military moves were necessary in the wake of the assassination of Cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi last week.

"Israel Defense Forces should be withdrawn immediately from all Palestinian-controlled areas, and no further such incursions should be made," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.

Israel responded with a statement that said, "The murder of Rehavam Zeevi crossed the red line, and Israel, as any democratic country, is exerting its right to self defense and the defense of its citizens."

Israel argues that its campaign against Palestinian militants is comparable to the U.S. strikes in Afghanistan, which aim to root out terror suspect Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network and defeat the Taliban rulers who shelter them.

In response to Zeevi's killing by Palestinian militants, Israeli tanks took up positions in six West Bank towns and sealed two more, drawing Palestinian fire.

Twenty-six Palestinians, most of them civilians, and an Israeli motorist have been killed in the fighting. On Tuesday, a 13-year-old boy from the West Bank town of Qalqiliya died a day after he was wounded in an exchange of fire.

Israel has demanded that the Palestinian Authority arrest and hand over Zeevi's killers and crush Palestinian militant groups.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has outlawed the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical PLO faction that claimed responsibility for Zeevi shooting. However, Palestinian officials have said they will not extradite any suspects to Israel.

Israeli officials reiterated Tuesday that troops will not leave the Palestinian towns until Israel's demands are met. "Israel will pull out ... immediately after it will clean up the terrorist nests which are deep-rooted there in the Palestinian territories," Meir said.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer of the moderate Labor Party softened the demands somewhat, saying he would pull back troops once he won credible assurances from the Palestinians that they would work to prevent attacks on Israelis.

The confrontation between the United States and Israel comes as Washington is trying to retain support for its military operations in Afghanistan. Washington is courting moderate Arab states, and fears Israeli-Palestinian fighting could interfere.

While the United States was pressing for easing up on the Palestinians, Prime Minister Sharon's hard-line constituency was demanding even stiffer action.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled downtown Jerusalem on Monday night, calling for Sharon to demolish the Palestinian Authority and expel Arafat.

© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press