More deaths in West Bank

JENIN, West Bank -- Palestinians ambushed Israeli troops in the cramped quarters of a West Bank refugee camp Tuesday, setting off a suicide bomb trap in a narrow alley and firing on soldiers in a courtyard, the military said. Thirteen Israelis were killed, the biggest blow to the army in its West Bank offensive. \nThe carefully planned double attack in the Jenin refugee camp also wounded nine Israeli soldiers. A military spokesman said a rapid series of blasts went off in the alley -- one of them detonated by a suicide bomber -- and collapsed part of a building on several soldiers. \nDefying U.S. demands that Israel's 12-day-old campaign wrap up without delay, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed "Operation Defensive Shield" will go on until it fulfills its mission -- "the destruction of the infrastructure of the terror groups." \n"This is a battle for survival of the Jewish people, for survival of the state of Israel," Sharon said on Israel TV. \nThere were signs, however, that U.S. efforts were having an effect. Earlier Tuesday, Israel pulled out of Tulkarem and Qalqiliya, two of six Palestinian towns it has occupied; troops remained in Nablus, Bethlehem, Jenin and Ramallah and several villages. \nSecretary of State Colin Powell, due to arrive in Israel late Thursday, said he was optimistic his mission could bring a truce and lead to negotiations. Speaking in Cairo, Powell said he would meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as well as Sharon and said the United States was willing to deploy observers to monitor any cease-fire. \nIsrael had said it would keep Arafat isolated in the Ramallah offices where he has been confined by troops since the West Bank campaign began. But Israeli officials said Tuesday they would not prevent Powell from meeting the Palestinian leader. \nIsrael launched its offensive March 29 to crush militias after a series of Palestinian suicide bombings. At least 124 Palestinians and 25 Israeli soldiers have been confirmed killed during the incursion, according to Palestinian medics and the Israeli army. The toll was expected to rise; there were reports that dead Palestinians had not been brought out of some areas, especially in the Jenin camp. \nThe Jenin camp in the northern West Bank, home to more than 13,000 Palestinians, has been the site of the most intense fighting of the Israeli assault, with gunmen inside battling Israeli soldiers for the past week. All but three of Israel's casualties in the campaign have occurred in the camp. \nBy Tuesday, several hundred gunmen had been pushed into a small area of the camp, with Israeli helicopter gunships providing heavy cover fire for ground troops, witnesses said. \nCamp resident Jamal Abdel Salam, an activist in the Islamic militant Hamas group, said the gunmen told him "they said they prefer death to surrender." \nIn the double ambush, one group of soldiers was walking in a narrow alley when the bombs went off, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ron Kitrey said. One of the blasts was set off by a Palestinian who blew himself up, while the other explosives were wired together, he said, killing several soldiers and bringing a house down on three of them. \nJust a few yards away, Israeli soldiers who had entered the courtyard of a house came under heavy fire from Palestinian gunmen on rooftops, and several more soldiers were killed, Kitrey told The Associated Press. The wounded and three bodies were recovered. \nThe Association for Civil Rights in Israel said dozens of bodies of Palestinians were piled in the streets of Jenin camp, and residents were prevented from getting food and water. The Israeli organization complained to the Defense Ministry that the military has committed serious human rights violations in the camp, including the demolition of homes with residents still inside. There was no immediate response from the Defense Ministry. \nIn Nablus, the West Bank's largest city, troops took control of the densely populated downtown area, or casbah, after several days of fierce resistance by Palestinian gunmen. At least 41 Palestinians were killed in the fighting there, but the toll was not final because bodies remained in the streets, medics said. \nIsraeli forces also raided the small town of Dura, south of Hebron, leveling two Palestinian intelligence and security compounds and rounding up men for questioning, Palestinian security officials said. Two Palestinians were killed in exchanges of fire with Israeli forces, the officials said. \nMeanwhile, a standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, built over the traditional birthplace of Jesus, entered its second week, straining delicate relations between Israel and the Vatican. More than 200 armed Palestinians have been holed up in the shrine, ringed by Israeli troops. An Israeli army officer said that negotiations were under way and that one proposal was to have the gunmen surrender to a third party. \nChristian leaders called on Israel to leave Bethlehem after a gunbattle and fire erupted Monday around the church. Some church officials, including a Franciscan friar, angrily accused Israel of provoking the unprecedented violence around the shrine. Sharon said Israel would not lift the siege until the armed men have surrendered. \nIsraeli officials said the decision was made to pull out of Qalqiliya and Tulkarem -- which remained encircled by Israeli troops -- after President Bush sharply called on Israel to end its offensive. Powell said he hoped the withdrawal early Tuesday was "the beginning of the end" of the spiraling violence. \nBut Sharon's comments suggested an end would not come quickly. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the West Bank assault has "dealt a heavy blow to the terrorist infrastructure." \nThe army says it detained 1,600 Palestinians -- of whom 84 were wanted suspects -- and seized more than 1,300 assault rifles, 387 sniper rifles, 49 anti-tank grenades, 256 machine guns, 58 bombs and 65 pounds of explosives. It also says it found 11 explosives laboratories. \nHowever, Palestinian officials said the bruising assault has also battered the Palestinian security apparatus which Israel holds responsible for controlling radical groups. \n"The Israeli occupation forces have destroyed everything related to the Palestinian security services (and) have arrested the Palestinian policemen and security personnel," said Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qureia.