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Church of Nativity scene of Mideast battle
By Saud Abu Ramadan United Press International From the International Desk Published 4/3/2002 9:37 AM
GAZA, April 3 (UPI) -- Two Palestinian militants killed Wednesday in the compound of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity were among 10 people slain in Israel's self-described "uncompromising war," which also has kept Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat confined to what is left of his Ramallah headquarters.
Palestinians said two members of the militant Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with Arafat's Fatah faction, were killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops in the yard outside the church, which is built above a cave believed to be the manger where Jesus Christ was born.
"Can you imagine? Can you believe it? They are attacking the Church of the Nativity, the Syrian Orthodox Church, and burning and demolishing mosques," Arafat told Al Jazeera television in an interview.
Israel has besieged the church since Tuesday and has reported gunfire from inside. Palestinian gunmen are holed up inside the church.
Eyewitnesses also said Israeli troops seized several of Arafat's private cars and were driving through Bethlehem. Two others Palestinians also were killed in the town.
Palestinian medical sources said six Palestinians were killed in the northern West Bank refugee camp of Jenin as dozens of Israeli army tanks and armored vehicles reoccupied the town and tried to break into the camp. The dead included a nurse and three militants, one a local Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades leader.
Tanks fired shells at Palestinian houses, witnesses said.
Palestinian militants damaged an Israeli armored vehicle and a bulldozer and clashed with an army unit as they tried to enter the refugee camp, residents said. Israeli radio reported one soldier sustained a non-life threatening injury.
The intensified Israeli action, which began last week after a spate of suicide-bomb attacks, has seen its tanks and troops take over key West Bank locations, including Arafat's Ramallah headquarters.
"We must fight this terrorism, in an uncompromising war to uproot these savages, to dismantle their infrastructure, because there is no compromise with terrorists," Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said when the action began.
Arafat's building has been heavily damaged, but Israel has said it would not harm the Palestinian leader.
A proposal Tuesday by Sharon to exile Arafat was rejected by the Palestinians.
The International Committee of the Red Cross in Jerusalem described the situation in the West Bank, especially Ramallah, as "very serious." It reported a shortage of medicine and accused the Israelis of attacking hospitals, preventing ambulances from reaching areas with casualties, and abusing nurses.
In Gaza City, Palestinian and foreign employees of the various U.N. agencies protested in front of the office of Terje Larsen, the top U.N. official in the region.
Marwan Al Kafarna, the UNSCO media coordinator, said the employees were protesting "the widespread Israeli army aggression on our people and the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank."
The demonstrators waved U.N. and Palestinian flags and chanted slogans. "Israel is not above international law," they chanted.
A demonstration organized by Arab and Israeli peace activists at the southern entrance to Ramallah ended after Israeli troops dispersed protesters with tear gas. The demonstrators called on the Israeli government to end its offensive in the Palestinian territories and free Arafat.
In Cairo Wednesday, Palestinian Planning and International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath called on Egypt and Jordan to sever diplomatic ties with Israel.
"I believe that it is about time that Egypt and Jordan cut their diplomatic relations with Israel following the latest Israeli invasion of Palestinian territories," Shaath told reporters.
Shaath was in Cairo to garner Arab support for the Palestinian intifada. He made his remarks following meetings with delegates of the Cairo-based Arab League member states.
Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab states that have signed peace treaties with Israel, in 1979 and 1994 respectively, have said in the past they would not sever ties with the Jewish state.
(With Joshua Brilliant in Tel Aviv, Israel)
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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