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http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/4-4-19102-0-58-0.html The Herald (Scotland) April 4, 2002 Israel's tanks pound West Bank ROB CRILLY ISRAELI tanks fought their way into the West Bank's largest city yesterday despite growing international condemnation of its relentless campaign against Palestinian militants. Almost 400 tanks were involved in heavy shelling and machinegun battles in and around Nablus on the sixth day of an offensive which Israel maintains is to wipe out terrorist networks behind a series of suicide bombings. Israeli warplanes also pounded suspected guerrilla hideouts in southern Lebanon after Hizbollah attacked army outposts for the second day. The attacks raised speculation that the militant Hizbollah group is trying to open a second front with Israel, while Israeli troops extend their attacks in the West Bank. Seven Britons were plucked from the West Bank town of Bethlehem, hours after three British students escaped the embattled town of Ramallah. Diplomats had to argue strenuously to get the seven, including Jeremy Hardy, the comedian and writer, and Kunle Ibidun, a Glaswegian now living in Bristol, out of Bethlehem where they had been trapped for more than 24 hours. Mr Ibidun, 30, discovered yesterday that his father had died from a stroke on Monday, and his sister, Billie, had pleaded for the Israeli authorities to allow their family to be together. Another Scot, Rory MacMillan, 32, from Edinburgh, was stranded in a hotel in Bethlehem. Mr MacMillan, a lawyer in London, is a former pupil of Stewart's Melville. He travelled to the Middle East to support the work of the Palestine International Solidarity Movement having gained sympathy for the Arab cause when teaching English in Egypt as a 17-year-old student. In another dramatic development, a priest at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, where 200 Palestinians were surrounded by Israeli soldiers, appealed for international help to avert a "massacre". Italian journalists, who spent the night in the church complex, said to be where Jesus was born, brought out film of the appeal by Father Ibrahim Faltas. "We are taking refuge in the Church of the Nativity while the Israeli tanks are surrounding the basilica," he said. "Unless you do something to solve this issue, we are in a real and great danger of being massacred at any moment. Please help us." Bethlehem, however, has effectively become a closed military zone. The first ambulance allowed to collect Palestinian casualties returned from Manger Square, where the church is situated, with the bodies of three civilians and two wounded men. Paramedics said they counted at least 10 more bodies. At least twelve Palestinians were killed yesterday, including a 13-year-old boy, a nurse, and a local militia leader, at a refugee camp in Jenin, on the sixth day of violence since Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, ordered tanks into Ramallah. In Jerusalem, more than 2000 Jewish and Palestinian activists clashed with Israeli police as they attempted to take humanitarian aid to the West Bank via a tense military checkpoint. The violent scenes were played out on the doorstep of the Helen Keller School for the Visually Impaired, where 70 blind children under the age of 12 were forced to shelter in a basement. The offensive, which Israel says is intended to end suicide attacks and isolate Yasser Arafat, has deepened fears of all-out war and stoked anger across the Arab world. Palestinians believe the aim is to topple Mr Arafat, still under siege in Ramallah, and reoccupy Palestinian-ruled areas. International pressure on Mr Sharon to abandon the offensive is growing. Egypt, one of three Arab countries to have relations with Israel, announced it was severing direct contact. Israel's main ally, America, also signalled a shift in policy, with the White House suggesting it was open to discussing a peace deal before a ceasefire was declared on the ground. After a meeting of foreign ministers, the EU said it would send a high-level mission to the Middle East to urge both sides to implement a ceasefire. However, a truce seems a long way off. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said the air attacks in the north were a warning to Syria and Lebanon, which back Hizbollah, that border assaults would not be tolerated. In the West Bank, tanks rolled into the towns of Salfit and Jenin, as well as Nablus, where they met stiff resistance. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
