Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
June 1, 2002
NABLUS, West Bank -- Israeli troops rolled into a refugee camp Friday on the edge of Nablus, rounding up hundreds of Palestinian men, imposing a curfew and blowing up a suicide bomber's home.
Just a few miles away, a Palestinian gunman was shot dead after infiltrating a Jewish settlement.
The confrontations came as diplomats converged on the region, looking for ways to end, or at least reduce, 20 months of Mideast violence. But no new peace initiatives have emerged.
The almost-daily Israeli forays into Palestinian territory, which once drew widespread international criticism, now produce little reaction, aside from Palestinian condemnations.
In his meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was quoted as saying, "Israel's position is that cessation of terror, violence and incitement and a thorough reform of the Palestinian Authority were conditions for progress in the diplomatic process."
Sharon played host Friday to Burns and Osama el-Baz, adviser to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. CIA director George Tenet was expected in the region over the weekend.
The United States has proposed an international conference on the Mideast this summer to revive the peace process, but with ongoing fighting, no date has been set. Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, who was also visiting the region, said, "We are working as hard as necessary to make it come about in the second half of July."
Israeli troops entered Nablus and the adjacent Balata refugee camp in dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers.
The camp is a stronghold of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia that has carried out deadly attacks and is linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
Arafat denounced the incursion. "This is Israel's message to the whole world, and proof they do not want to reach any agreement or any political settlement."
Israeli tanks fired on the Balata camp May 22, killing Mahmoud Titi, the Al-Aqsa leader in the area. Monday, his cousin Jihad Titi carried out a suicide attack in Israel, killing an Israeli woman and her 18-month-old granddaughter.
Israeli troops on Friday blew up the house of Jihad Titi.
In the camp, soldiers used loudspeakers to call on Palestinian males, ages 15 to 45, to turn themselves in. Hundreds of Palestinians walked through the dusty streets to an open area near a factory.
As the Israelis checked the identities of the men, some were blindfolded and handcuffed.