Days after Arab summit, Mideast violence escalates

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Saying Israel is in a war for survival, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed to "smash" Palestinian militants in an uncompromising offensive, as he addressed a nation rattled by five suicide bombings in five days, including two attacks Sunday that killed 14 Israelis. \nIn a sign that Israel's "Operation Protective Wall" was expanding, dozens of Israeli tanks entered the West Bank town of Qalqiliya late Sunday, Palestinian witnesses said. Armored vehicles also amassed near biblical Bethlehem. \nIn Ramallah, under Israeli control since Friday, dozens of European peace activists, their arms raised and holding white flags, marched past bewildered Israeli soldiers into Yasser Arafat's office to protest the confinement of the Palestinian leader by Israel. The protesters said they would stay with Arafat, who has accused Israel of trying to kill him, as a human shield. \nEarlier in the day, Israeli forces surrounding the building exchanged fire with Arafat's guards, and Palestinian officials said Arafat was just a few yards from the fighting. Several guards were wounded, two of them seriously. At least 13 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers have been killed in Ramallah since Friday. \nThe Israeli army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ron Kitrey, acknowledged that Arafat was at risk, even if he was not a target. \nAddressing the nation in a five-minute televised speech, Sharon said Israel is fighting a "war over our home" and branded Arafat an enemy of the Jewish state and the "entire free world," as well as a danger to the Middle East. \n"We must fight against this terrorism, fight with no compromise, pull up these wild plants by the roots, smash their infrastructure, because there is no compromise with terrorism," Sharon said, adding that only then a cease-fire would be possible. \nPalestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said the speech was "void of substance, void of hope, void of realism." Erekat said Sharon "slammed the door tonight in the face of all of those who are trying to de-escalate." \nThe Cabinet met Sunday to review plans for the next stage of the offensive, for which 20,000 reserve soldiers were mobilized, at a cost of millions of dollars a month. Still, some expressed unease over what they called the campaign's vague goals. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange dropped by five percent points Sunday, and the dollar rose 2.8 percent against the shekel. \nSome newspaper commentaries said the military campaign was mainly driven by Sharon's need to settle a personal score with Arafat, who in 1982 was besieged by Sharon's forces in Beirut, but was able to leave Lebanon with thousands of fighters. \n"This explains Sharon's tremendous urge to humiliate Arafat," Nahum Barnea wrote in the Yediot Ahronot Daily. \nIn the first of Sunday's two suicide blasts, a Palestinian from the Islamic militant group Hamas blew himself up in a restaurant, killing himself and 14 diners, and wounding more than 40. \nThe blast tore away much of the roof and shattered tables and windows. Twisted piles of metal covered the floor. "Even the moderately injured were on fire," said a witness, Shimon Sabag, who helped administer first aid. \nTwo hours later, a suicide bomber walked into a paramedics' dispatch station in the Jewish settlement of Efrat in the West Bank and detonated his explosives. The attacker died and four medics were wounded, including a trainee who was in serious condition. \nPresident Bush, who has defended Israel's offensive, condemned Sunday's bombings and said they would not "deter him from the pursuit of peace," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. \nSharon's pledge to press on with the offensive came despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory. \nIsrael's ambassador to the United Nations said U.S. officials have suggested to Israel that it would not have to act immediately on the resolution because there's no timeline. "Everyone is aware of this, including the Americans," the ambassador, Yehuda Lancry, told Israel Army Radio.