Israel cautioned over raid

[gelatik]

The United States and the United Nations have urged Israel to exercise
restraint as troops continue a major offensive against two Palestinian refugee
camps in the West Bank.
At least 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier died in the Israeli attacks on
the Jenin and Balata camps on Thursday, which involved tanks and helicopter
gunships.



We've been in touch with the Israeli Government to urge that the utmost
restraint be exercised to avoid harm to the civilian population

US State Department
Palestinian officials said they were the fiercest assaults on refugee camps
since the start of the Palestinian uprising 17 months ago.

The Israelis say their aim is to arrest militants and destroy facilities where
missiles and explosives are made.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said it was "extremely important
that every possible effort be made to avoid harm to civilians".


"We've been in touch with the Israeli Government to urge that the utmost
restraint be exercised to avoid harm to the civilian population."

But he also voiced satisfaction that an Israeli-Palestinian security meeting
took place on Thursday.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Israeli troops should leave the camps
immediately.

"I implore both sides to refrain from further actions which may endanger yet
more civilian lives," he said.

Hunt for militants

Israel says it is determined to show that Palestinian militants cannot take
refuge in the narrow alleyways and breeze-block buildings of the camps.


Clashes raged all day


The assault began before dawn and clashes with lightly armed Palestinians raged
all day.

Israeli soldiers conducted house-to-house searches, reportedly breaking through
walls of adjoining properties to avoid exposure to Palestinian militants, who
were said to be well-armed.

Palestinian gunmen in Beit Jala near Bethlehem opened fire at the nearby Jewish
settlement of Gilo in retaliation for the raid.


The new offensive - after a suicide bombing on Wednesday night at an Israeli
army checkpoint in the West Bank - overshadowed a Saudi peace initiative aimed
at ending the violence.

More than 80 Palestinians were wounded in the Israeli assault, according to
Palestinian medical sources.

Palestinian warning

Israeli troops also occupied a United Nations-run school on the edge of Balata -
but the army firmly denied reports that its soldiers were trapped there,
surrounded by militants.

Marwan Barghouti, the head of the Fatah movement aligned to Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat, described the Israeli offensive as a "massacre".

"We warn Israel that if it does not withdraw its forces in the next few hours,
the Palestinian side will retaliate against Israelis everywhere in the occupied
territories," Mr Barghouti said.

"I call on all national forces to unite against this Israeli escalation and
come forward to defend their brothers in Balata and Jenin," he said.

A similar warning was issued by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade - the militant
group linked to Fatah which on Wednesday said it was behind a female suicide
attack that wounded two Palestinians accompanying the bomber and at least three
Israeli policemen.