Israeli tanks roll out of Ramallah
Palestinian security officials said the 250 Israeli tanks that moved into Ramallah on Tuesday, paralysing the West Bank commercial and administrative centre, began rolling out of the town and the adjacent Amari refugee camp after 2am.
The Israeli military would not confirm that a pull-out was under way but military sources said there was some movement of forces.
Hoping to scale back violence that escalated rapidly in the last two weeks, US envoy Anthony Zinni was due to arrive today for his third truce attempt in four months.
As Zinni prepared to leave for the Middle East, US president George Bush criticised this week’s Israeli push into the West Bank and Gaza, the biggest Israeli military operation in two decades. Bush said that while Israel had a right to defend itself, ‘‘the recent actions are not helpful’’.
Yesterday the streets of Ramallah were mostly deserted, except for tanks. Gunmen emerged to fire at the Israeli forces and then disappeared. A senior Palestinian security officer and an Israeli army officer were killed.
Two Palestinians entered Nahliel, a Jewish settlement northwest of Ramallah and stabbed a settler, seriously wounding him, settlers and the military said.
In Gaza, a Palestinian opened fire at an Israeli vehicle. Soldiers fired back, killing the Palestinian. The military said he was carrying grenades.
With the reported exit of Israeli forces from Ramallah and their pull-out on Tuesday from the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza, all that remained of the huge Israeli military operation was a presence in biblical Bethlehem.
After midnight, two Israeli tanks moved up a main road in the West Bank town, witnesses said, as armoured vehicles took up positions in the Aida refugee camp next to Bethlehem.
The Israeli military said its forces moved farther into Bethlehem and took up new positions, continuing an operation aimed against terrorism.
While Israeli officials had said the offensive would probably by scaled down when Zinni arrived, they did not predict immediate success for his ceasefire efforts.
Zinni’s attempt to halt the bloodshed is part of ‘‘an extended process which will take a few days, but that does not mean we should not aim to do it as fast as possible’’, Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh told Army Radio.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell called Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat yesterday and discussed the situation for 35 minutes, said Arafat aid Nabil Abu Rdeneh.
Zinni was expected to press for implementation of a ceasefire plan negotiated by CIA director George Tenet last May, but never carried out. It calls for an end to Palestinian attacks and Israeli military operations, as well as pulling Israeli troops and tanks back from forward positions they seized during 17 months of conflict.
Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon dropped a demand for seven days without violence as a precondition to putting the Tenet plan into effect, a gesture that contributed to the resignation of the hawkish National Union bloc from his broad-based coalition.
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he had asked Sharon to investigate reports that health workers and ambulances trying to evacuate the wounded were targeted by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza.
Annan disclosed that he had written to Sharon when asked at a news conference yesterday to explain why for the first time he had described Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory as ‘‘illegal’’.
The secretary-general said the Security Council and the General Assembly had at times described aspects of Israel’s occupation as illegal, including its establishment of settlements, its jurisdiction and administration over East Jerusalem, and some recent events.
‘‘There is a whole series of things- attacking with heavy weapons in heavily civilian areas - that are very serious things for one to stand back and say that is a normal and legal way to organise or administer,’’ Annan said.
‘‘In fact, I have written to Prime Minister Sharon asking him to investigate some of the reports that I have received regarding the idea of targeting some people, such as health workers riding in ambulances, and ambulances being blocked from getting to wounded.’’
Five Palestinian medics and doctors were killed last week by Israeli troops shooting at rescue vehicles, and Palestinian officials accused Israel of systematically targeting medical personnel. Israel said ambulances are frequently being used to ferry weapons and gunmen.
