WEST BANK (voa) – Israeli forces have killed at 13 Palestinians and wounded more than 100 during ongoing assaults on two West Bank refugee camps.
Sporadic bursts of gunfire were still being reported early Friday in the Jenin refugee camp and town and the Balata refugee camp near Nablus. Israeli troops backed by several tanks moved into both areas early Thursday.
Israel says the two areas provide what it calls a terrorist infrastructure for Palestinian militants.
Security sources on both sides say Israeli forces are in control of all entrances and strategic buildings around Balata, where an Israeli soldier was killed during the raid.
Washington is urging Israel to exercise the “utmost restraint” to avoid harming civilians. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is calling on Israel to withdraw from the camps immediately, and says only renewed political negotiations can produce a lasting Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.
Palestinian officials charge Israel with trying to ruin a land-for-peace proposal floated by Saudi Arabia that has won both international and U.S. support.
Late Wednesday, a female Palestinian suicide bomber wounded three Israeli police at an Israeli roadblock in the West Bank.
Diplomats and regional leaders remain focused on prospects for a Saudi land-for-peace initiative. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana discussed the Saudi initiative Thursday with Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, then had similar talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah in Amman. Mr. Solana plans to travel to Washington next week to discuss the Saudi initiative.
Also, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns is in Saudi Arabia for talks on the proposal with Crown Prince Abdullah.
