Israeli troops Friday battered Palestinian centers in Bethlehem, the West Bank and Gaza, killing at least 39 Palestinians in a series of assaults in retaliation for the slayings of five Israeli teenagers.
Friday was the deadliest day of the fighting that broke out more than 17 months ago. The mounting bloodshed gives added impetus to a new U.S. effort, to begin next week with the arrival of envoy Anthony Zinni, to quell the Israeli-Arab conflict. By nightfall Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in a television appearance, announced that he was ready to meet American demands to begin peace talks immediately.
The Bush administration, sources here said, wants both sides to revisit two earlier peace formulas–one devised by CIA Director George Tenet and another laid out by negotiator George Mitchell–to bolster security and begin substantive talks on finding stability in the beleaguered region.
Secretary of State Colin Powell this week had openly criticized the surge in violence and urged both sides to return to peace talks. In the past few days, the administration made it clear that Israeli attacks against Palestinian neighborhoods, portrayed as attempts to smash terrorist factions, had raised the stakes and sparked fears of an all-out war.
Officials indicated to the Israelis that the U.S. would no longer support a demand by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that the region must be quiet for seven days before peace negotiations could be resuscitated. Sharon said, in an unexpected announcement on television Friday evening, that he had changed his mind about the time requirement. He said he would negotiate under fire, creating a new possibility for dialogue.
“It’s a high-risk game,” one diplomatic source said about the efforts to bring both sides to the negotiating table. “And success is not guaranteed.”
Zinni, who is expected to arrive late next week, has no time limit for his mission, according to an embassy official here. Two previous missions by Zinni ended in failure.
Some Palestinians surrender
Sharon’s small concession came after an exhausting day of fighting. An assault continued into the night at Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank, even after dozens of Palestinians were reported to have surrendered. Palestinian leaders charged that the attacks were intensified by the Israelis to secure gains before the Zinni visit.
Heavy fighting was reported throughout the day, with seven people killed and dozens wounded at the camp, according to Palestinian media. Armed Palestinian resistance was reported in early-morning radio broadcasts. Palestinian sources reported later in the day that fighting remained fierce as medics alleged that ambulances, attempting to aid the wounded, were denied passage by Israeli troops.
By evening, Israeli radio and newspapers were reporting that dozens of Palestinian soldiers had surrendered at Tulkarem. Israeli army officials later confirmed that Palestinian fighters had been arrested but would not characterize how they were captured. Israeli media reported into the night that dozens and perhaps up to 100 Arab fighters were entrenched near the center of the camp and engaged in battle with the Israeli army.
Israeli troops and helicopters also swept into Bethlehem on Friday, killing at least four people and wounding dozens in areas around the ancient city, Palestinian radio reported. The Israeli army said Friday morning that troops took over “wide areas” of Bethlehem and entered neighboring Beit Jala and the nearby Aida and Deheisheh refugee camps.
“House-to-house searches are under way for terrorists, munitions and terrorist infrastructure,” the army said.
Close call for general
Later in the day, Israeli helicopters attacked Palestinian security headquarters in the town of Khan Yunis in Gaza. The Palestinian police chief of Gaza, Brig. Gen. Abdel Razek Majaidie, was in his office when he heard the helicopters approach and fled just before the first of four missiles hit, aides said.
Friday evening, Israeli gunships fired at Palestinian targets close to the West Bank city of Hebron. Palestinian sources said security targets, including a police headquarters, were hit, as well as a utility building, which left the city without electricity.
5 killed at military school
The latest Israeli assault began late Thursday after a Palestinian gunman broke into a military school in the settlement of Atzmona in the Gaza Strip around 11 p.m. and began a rampage of grenades and bullets that left five teenagers dead. Residents at the settlement, stunned by the assault, on Friday morning were cleaning the bullet-pocked rooms where the youths, all preparing for training in elite military units, had died.
The killer was identified as Mohammed Farhat, a teenager from Gaza City and member of the Islamic militant group Hamas. One eyewitness to the attack said Farhat somehow skirted an electrical fence around the camp and simply walked up and started firing. He attacked a security guard–who found safety in an armored car–shot indiscriminately into a classroom used for study of Jewish religious texts and threw a grenade into a small shelter, incinerating one student beyond recognition, one settler said.
“They said he was rushing and running and shooting everywhere,” said Yona Emanuel, a longtime settler who sounded a call for help during the 20-minute attack. Farhat was killed by a member of the army who lives in Atzmona, Emanuel said.
