Israeli tanks roll into Bethlehem

Associated Press

BETHLEHEM, West Bank – In one of Israel’s biggest incursions into Palestinian territory, the army sent tanks into biblical Bethlehem on Friday, commandeering two hotels for its troops as it stepped up pressure on the Palestinians following the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister.

Six Palestinians were killed Friday, including three in the Bethlehem area, Palestinians said. Israelis and Palestinians both appeared to be gearing up for further conflict despite international calls to observe a Mideast truce.

Israeli forces have charged into several Palestinian areas in the West Bank over the past two days, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government has suspended contacts with Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority. The moves are part of a tough response to Wednesday’s shooting death of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi by members of a radical Palestinian group that is on the U.S. State Department’s list of terrorist organizations.

“We consider this comprehensive Israeli attack an implementation to a war policy against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people,” the Palestinian leadership said in a statement. The Palestinians said the Israelis were taking advantage of Zeevi’s killing to reoccupy more Palestinian land.

In Washington, D.C., the U.S. State Department warned Israel to stop military incursions into Palestinian areas.

“Israeli entries into Palestinian-controlled areas are not helpful, complicate the situation and should be halted,” the department press office said Friday.

Israel sent 30 tanks and armored personnel carriers into Bethlehem and adjacent Beit Jalla before dawn Friday after Palestinian militants fired on a nearby Jewish neighborhood on the southern fringe of Jerusalem.

Israeli troops fortified their positions and set up sniper positions on top of two Bethlehem hotels. About two miles away, thousands of Palestinians chanting “Revenge!” marched at a funeral for three Palestinian militants killed Thursday.

Palestinians packed Manger Square in Bethlehem, next to the traditional birthplace of Jesus, with some militants firing rifles in the air.

Atef Abayat, the Bethlehem leader of the Tanzim militia, which is linked to Arafat’s Fatah movement, was killed along with two other militiamen in an explosion Thursday in his newly acquired sport utility vehicle.

The Palestinians blamed Israel for the blast. The Israelis, who have carried out dozens of targeted attacks against Palestinian militants, had Abayat near the top of their wanted list, accusing him of several fatal shootings of Israelis. However, Israel refused to say if it was responsible for the explosion.

Within an hour of the blast, Palestinian gunmen opened fire Thursday night on the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, built on land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War. Several hours later, the Israeli tanks rolled into Bethlehem and Beit Jalla to stop the shooting.

Bethlehem, a town heavily dependent on foreign tourists, has been badly hit by the fighting and many hotels have been shut for months for lack of business. The Israeli troops took over two empty hotels – the Paradise and the luxury Inter-Continental – placing tanks in front, soldiers inside and snipers on the roofs, witnesses said.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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