Israelis raid refugee camps

Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli tanks and troops thrust into Palestinian refugee camps and took command of the streets in this key West Bank city Tuesday, killing 31 Palestinians in one of Israel’s largest military operations ever in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Seven Israelis were killed, including six in an ambush just inside the border with Lebanon. The attackers, disguised as Israeli soldiers, were reportedly Palestinians who slipped across Israel’s previously quiet northern frontier – raising the prospect of a new front in the current Mideast conflict.

Also Tuesday, Palestinian militiamen killed a Palestinian suspected of collaborating with Israel and strung him up by his ankles in Ramallah.

Israel began stepping up its military operations against Palestinian militants two weeks ago after a series of deadly attacks on Israeli civilians. Since then, large numbers of tanks and troops have charged into six Palestinian towns and refugee camps.

“This is a dangerous escalation from the Israeli government that will lead the whole region into more violence,” said Nabil Aburdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Israeli government spokesman Dore Gold said Israel was showing restraint and “not using the full strength of its air force against the refugee camps.”

A Hamas leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, threatened revenge. “We have no choice but to kill the occupier, to kill him everywhere, every village and every city. There’s no other way to defend ourselves,” he said.

Two Israeli Cabinet ministers from the ultranationalist National Union party resigned Tuesday, saying they felt Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s actions weren’t strong enough. Sharon still retains a solid parliamentary majority – 75 out of 120 seats.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his toughest statement on the Mideast violence, urged Palestinians to halt “morally repugnant” acts of terror and Israelis to end their “illegal occupation” of Palestinian territory and stop using excessive force.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said he believed it was the first time Annan had called Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory “illegal.”

With the Mideast suffering through its worst violence since fighting began 17 months ago, U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni is headed to the region this week. Zinni, who is to arrive Thursday, had two previous truce missions scuttled by violence, and reversing the momentum of the current fighting will be extremely difficult.