CIA chief heading back to Mideast

CIA Director George Tenet's 2001 cease-fire plan has yet to be implemented.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- CIA Director George Tenet is scheduled to depart Friday for the Middle East for consultations with security officials, U.S. officials said.

Tenet will meet with Israeli and Palestinian security officials as well as others in the Middle East to discuss the prospects for renewed security cooperation between the two sides, officials said. He will join Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, who is already in the region.

The officials said Tenet will return within a few days to report to President Bush.

"When we get reports back from Mr. Tenet and from Ambassador Burns and when we consult with a lot of other people, we will start to integrate all this information and see what next steps should be taken," Secretary of State Colin Powell said this week.

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Speaking Thursday in Cairo, Egypt, Burns stressed the Bush administration's three-track commitment to solve the crisis -- renew a serious political process aimed at a two-state solution, support Palestinian efforts to build strong institutions in preparation for statehood and establish effective Palestinian performance on security.

"There has been too much suffering and too much death for both Israelis and Palestinians," Burns said. "The humanitarian problems, the daily humiliations that ordinary Palestinians suffer under occupation, and it's getting worse every day.

"It is time to restore, for all of us to try very hard to restore, a sense of hope in a political resolution and a sense of hope for both Israelis and Palestinians that they can gain the security and the hope for the future that they deserve," he said.

Tenet proposed a cease-fire and security plan in June 2001 that urged Israeli and Palestinian security organizations to reaffirm commitments to agreements under the April 2001 Mitchell report.

The Mitchell report calls for a resumption of security cooperation, a halt to the construction of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, a denunciation of terrorism and resumption of peace talks.

Neither of these cease-fire plans have yet been implemented, and Israeli-Palestinian violence has continued steadily since a monthlong Israeli offensive in the West Bank -- following a series of Palestinian terror attacks -- ended in early May.

Sources: Israeli forces enter Nablus

Israeli tanks and troops entered the Palestinian-controlled town of Nablus early Friday, officials on both sides said.

Israeli troops detain two Palestinians Thursday in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Palestinian security sources told CNN that 13 armored personnel carriers and 10 tanks had surrounded the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. They reported heavy Israeli machine gun fire and tank shelling.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed an operation was under way but would not comment further.

After a four-day operation, the Israeli army Thursday pulled out of positions in and around the Bethlehem area, Palestinian security sources said.

Israeli troops raided the city Sunday night to search for Palestinian militants. Troops also entered the Deheishe refugee camp west of the West Bank city.

The Bethlehem incursion was the second raid into the city since Saturday. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres called the city a "nest of terror."

In a series of raids elsewhere in the West Bank early Thursday, Israeli troops arrested 12 Palestinians suspected of terrorist activities, according to Israel Defense Forces.

IDF troops entered Hebron overnight Wednesday, arrested four Palestinians and then left the city. Israeli forces also arrested six Palestinians in the village of Faroun near Tulkarem and two in the village of Deir Istiya near Qalqilya.

-- CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor contributed to this report.