- GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian
militants blew up an Israeli tank in the Gaza Strip Thursday, killing three
soldiers hours before the start of a U.S. envoy's Middle East peace
mission.
-
- The Israeli army waited several hours before confirming
that it had lost the tank, a Merkava-3 traveling in a convoy of military
vehicles and Jewish settlers. It said three crewmen had been killed and
two injured.
-
- The attack was sure to further complicate the envoy
Anthony
Zinni's attempts to secure a cease-fire after 17 months of
Israeli-Palestinian
bloodshed.
-
- Hopes of progress have been undermined by a broad Israeli
military offensive in Palestinian areas, a Palestinian vow not to hold
truce talks until the assault ends and threats by the militant Hamas group
to continue attacks during Zinni's visit.
-
- A coalition of militant organizations, including an armed
group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement,
quickly
announced that it had blown up the tank and killed at least three
soldiers.
-
- Israeli military censors originally withheld
confirmation,
saying only that three Israelis had been killed by a bomb that destroyed
a "large vehicle" near a Jewish settlement in Gaza.
-
- Fireman Mordechai Ezra told Israel Radio: "Work
was difficult because of the fire. The tank burned and we were concerned
that ammunition would explode. We started with cooling the tank, and put
out the fire."
-
- It was the second loss of a Merkava-3 tank, the pride
of the Israeli army, in as many months. A Palestinian bomb destroyed a
tank in the Gaza Strip in February, killing three crew.
-
- The new attack was sure to increase tension as Israeli
forces pressed on with their two-week-old offensive against the
Palestinians
in which they have occupied the West Bank city of Ramallah, Arafat's main
power base, just north of Jerusalem.
-
- "There won't be...any meetings with any Israelis
until they stop their aggression and withdraw from all the cities including
Bethlehem and Ramallah and cities in Gaza," said Nabil Abu Rdainah,
a senior aide to Arafat.
-
- HAMAS VOW
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- Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said his group would
not halt attacks during Zinni's stay. "Our resistance will continue
and we will defend ourselves with all possible means," he told Reuters
in an interview.
-
- In another act likely to fuel tension, militants shot
dead two Palestinians who allegedly collaborated with Israel and dragged
one of the bullet-riddled bodies through Manger Square in Bethlehem, the
traditional birthplace of Jesus.
-
- At least 1,058 Palestinians and 344 Israelis have been
killed since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip began in September 2000 after peace talks froze.
-
- Zinni's visit marks his third attempt since November
to end the bloodletting. The violence has overshadowed a Middle East tour
by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney who is seeking Arab support for a
campaign
to put pressure on Iraq.
-
- President Bush highlighted growing international concern
that cease-fire efforts could be jeopardized by the broadest Israeli
offensive
in decades.
-
- "It's not helpful what the Israelis have recently
done, in order to create conditions for peace," Bush told a news
conference.
"I understand someone trying to defend themselves and to fight terror
but the recent actions aren't helpful."
-
- Also in Washington, administration and congressional
sources said the Bush administration was blocking a request from Israel
for hundreds of millions of dollars in new aid.
-
- SHARON PRESSES CAMPAIGN
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- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, forged ahead
with the military operations in which Israel says it is seeking militants
behind attacks on Israelis.
-
- Israeli forces have occupied Ramallah, a
Palestinian-ruled
city of 200,000 and the West Bank's commercial and political hub, since
Monday.
-
- European Commission chief Romano Prodi and U.N.
Secretary-General
Kofi Annan both strongly condemned the Israeli actions. Sweden condemned
what it said was the Israeli army's "targeting" of Palestinian
ambulances and killing of medical personnel.
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