Israel keeps fighting, with Powell on the way

Source: Powell gets go-ahead to meet with Arafat

Sharon addressed Israeli troops at the Jenin refugee camp Wednesday.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed to continue fighting "until the job is done" after visiting with Israeli troops on the eve of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's arrival in the strife-ridden region Thursday.

Israel continued its military operations in the West Bank, withdrawing troops from three villages early Thursday, according to Israeli officials. Hours later, however, Palestinian sources said Israeli tanks and military vehicles rolled into Ber Zeit, the West Bank's most prominent university town.

Powell was scheduled to meet Friday with Sharon. An Israeli government source said Israel has given the green light for Powell to meet Saturday with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Arafat remains under siege by Israeli troops at his compound in Ramallah.

Powell met Wednesday with leaders of the European Union in Madrid in advance of his arrival in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

"I believe it is important for me to meet with Chairman Arafat," he said. "He's the leader of the Palestinian people, and I think the Palestinian people and the Arab leaders with whom I've met over the last several days believe that he is the partner that Israel will have to deal with at some point." (Full story)

In a sign of the challenge awaiting Powell, the violence in the region continued Wednesday. Eight people were killed in a morning terrorist attack near Haifa when a suicide bomber wearing a belt of explosives blew himself up aboard an Israeli commuter bus, police said. At least 14 people were wounded.

A witness said the explosion lifted the bus several feet into the air before it came down into a pile of smoldering wreckage. Rescue officials said bodies were blown apart, making it difficult to determine exactly how many were killed. (On the Scene)

The 18-year-old niece of Israel's ambassador to the United Nations was among the dead.

An outraged Sharon visited troops at the Jenin refugee camp, where the fighting has been intense, and said Israel would continue its fight against terrorism.

"For us, it is a war of survival," he said. "One must understand that that is our right and responsibility to defend the lives of our citizens."

Sharon called the United States Israel's "one best friend." After the September 11 attacks, he said, the United States "faces a problem now that we have been facing" for years and should understand what Israel is going through.

Israel's military operations continue

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Israeli troops have been fighting in the West Bank since March 29 amid intense international pressure to end the incursion.

The Israeli offensive began during a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings over the Passover holiday, and Israel has said the campaign's goal is to destroy a "terrorist infrastructure."

Military officials said Israeli troops had completed their withdrawal from the West Bank towns of Yatta and Qabatya early Thursday and were pulling out of Samua.

The Defense Ministry said the Israeli operation in the area had resulted in a number of arrests and had uncovered a number of explosives labs.

Hours later, Palestinian security forces said Israeli forces had moved into Ber Zeit. The sources said the Israeli army went to a police station and a preventive security office. They also said dormitories on the campus of Ber Zeit University were being evacuated.

The Israel Defense Forces had no immediate comment.

Thursday's partial pullout falls short of the full withdrawal from the West Bank demanded by the international community, including the United States.

"The withdrawal the president called for is continuing," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Wednesday in Washington, "and now is the time for the Arab nations and the Palestinians to act on the president's call to denounce terrorism, to stop financing terrorism, to stop incitement in state-owned media and to support and work for the Tenet plan and the Mitchell accords."(Tenet plan)

Fleischer went on to say, "Israel isn't the only one with an obligation. All parties have to do their part."

Israel's Security Cabinet voted Wednesday to continue the West Bank operation, Cabinet sources said.

Israeli troops are still operating in the cities of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem and several villages. Israeli forces have withdrawn from Tulkarem and Qalqilya but have encircled them.

Erakat: Israel must withdraw

In Ramallah, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat and other Palestinian leaders met with Arafat in the Palestinian Authority headquarters where he has been under siege for nearly two weeks. Erakat later met with U.S. Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni.

Erakat said he relayed a message to Zinni from Arafat: That Palestinians "will exert every possible effort to ensure the success of Secretary Powell's mission."

"We assured him of our full commitment to all our obligations," he told CNN. But, he added, "the first step that must be taken is that Sharon must heed the call of President Bush to withdraw immediately and to stop the incursions and then move into the cease-fire."

The Israeli government source said Israel would pull its troops back from Arafat's compound before Powell arrives. The source repeated Sharon's remark that the Israeli government views the Powell-Arafat meeting as a "tragic mistake."

Hamas, Islamic Jihad claim responsibility for attack

The militant Islamic group Hamas claimed responsibility for the Haifa terror attack in a call to an Arabic-language news network. Islamic Jihad later claimed responsibility, as well.

Hamas is a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization that the U.S. State Department labels a terrorist organization. The group's military wing has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against the Israeli military and civilians, including a March 31 suicide bombing at a Haifa restaurant that killed 14 people.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a militant group dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel. The group operates out of Gaza and has conducted operations against Israeli soldiers and civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. It introduced suicide bombings to Israel in 1992.

Other developments