Sharon willing to talk cease-fire while 'under fire'

An Israeli helicopter fires machine guns and throws flares during an attack on Tulkarem in the West Bank

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday he is willing to negotiate with Palestinians on a cease-fire even as violence in the region rages -- a major shift from his previous demand for a seven-day period of calm before any such talks could begin.

"I thought we could reach a period of respite before a cease-fire," Sharon told an Israeli television station. "But this is a war situation we are experiencing now and negotiations for a cease-fire will take place under fire."

More than 100 Israelis and Palestinians, including numerous children, have been killed in the past week in the region. (More on the week of violence)

Senior State Department officials said that Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke Friday morning with both Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat about the situation. No details of the conversations were available.

VIDEO CNN's Ben Wedeman says it was a day of anguish in the Mideast (March 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Sheila MacVicar says Israeli Prime Minister Sharon is taking heat from disenchanted Israelis on the left and political hard-liners on the right (March 7) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline of Tumult: February 28-March 8    EXTRA INFORMATION In-Depth: Mideast Struggle for Peace

Dozens of Palestinians were killed as Israel pounded targets Friday in the West Bank and Gaza on the heels of a deadly attack carried out by a Palestinian militant that killed five 18-year-old Israeli students in a Jewish settlement in Gaza late Thursday.

U.S. President George Bush has called on Sharon to show restraint, saying "I think he recognizes that he cannot achieve peace by allowing violence to escalate or causing violence to escalate,"

Bush also urged Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat "to make the maximum effort to end terrorism against Israel" and announced he would send his special Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni to the Middle East in an attempt to bring calm to the region.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday told reporters he expected the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a new U.S. diplomatic push in that regard to be a major focus at every stop of his upcoming 12-nation trip to the region.

The administration's decision to send Zinni was a major policy shift for the administration, which had previously said there was no point in sending him to the region until the violence had subsided. (Full story)

Israel hits Gaza, West Bank

Israeli helicopters struck Khan Younis in Gaza Friday morning, Palestinian sources said, hours after Israeli tanks and forces entered the refugee camp overnight, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The Israeli forces exchanged fire with armed Palestinian gunmen, the IDF said, and arrested several Palestinians in Khan Younis suspected of terrorist activities.

Twenty-two Palestinians were killed during the Khan Younis incursion -- including a senior Palestinian security commander, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mefraj -- according to Palestinian security sources. He was said to be the highest ranking Palestinian officer killed by Israeli forces since the current intifada began in September 2000.

Palestinian sources asserted that Mefraj was "assassinated," but Israeli sources denied that, saying they were surprised such a senior officer was on the scene of the gunbattle.

Also in northern Gaza, Israeli Apache helicopters fired missiles at a police station in Beit Hanoun, Palestinian sources said.

To ensure a proper Jewish burial, an Orthodox Israeli medic collects blood from the floor at the school where five Israelis died in the Jewish settlement of Atzmona in southern Gaza

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, Israeli forces captured large areas in Bethlehem and Beit Jala and set up tactical positions, the IDF said. The forces are conducting door-to-door searches, encountering firefights with Palestinian gunmen, according to the IDF. Israeli F-16 jet fighters fired missiles at a Palestinian police headquarters in Bethlehem, according to Palestinian sources there.

Palestinian security sources said six Palestinians were killed during the Israeli incursion in the Bethlehem area. Reporting from Bethlehem, CNN's Ben Wedeman said one of the dead was a Palestinian doctor who ran an area hospital. He was shot in the head.

The IDF said Israeli forces arrested several Palestinians suspected of terrorist activity, near Tulkarem in the West Bank. Sixteen Palestinians were killed during that raid Friday morning, Palestinian security sources said. Security sources also say a heavy exchange of fire in Tulkarem left one Israeli soldier dead.

In another incident, Israeli border guards shot dead a Palestinian carrying a bomb on him in east Jerusalem's Beit Hanina neighborhood Friday, Israeli police said.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Sheila MacVicar contributed to this report