Powell arrives in Israel aiming for a cease-fire

Powell arrived in Israel to a warm reception and daunting expectations.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Israel late Thursday for planned meetings with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat aimed at bringing about a Mideast cease-fire.

Even as Powell landed in Tel Aviv, Israeli troops remained in the largest cities in the West Bank, though the area was calmer than in previous days. After his arrival, Powell flew by helicopter to Jerusalem to meet with U.S. Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni.

Powell is scheduled to meet Friday with Sharon and Saturday with Arafat in an effort to negotiate a halt to the violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He arrived in Israel after making a brief stop in Jordan, where he met with King Abdullah II.

At a news conference following that meeting, Powell said he was anxious to "move aggressively to get a political track started" in the Middle East.

The Israeli military operation that prompted Powell's trip began March 29 amid a series of suicide bombings that targeted Israeli civilians. Israeli forces have remained in Palestinian-controlled cities in the West Bank since then despite U.S. and international calls for a withdrawal.

An Israeli government source said Wednesday that Israel had given the approval for Powell to meet with Arafat. The Palestinian leader has been under siege for nearly two weeks at his West Bank compound in Ramallah. The source said Israel would pull its troops back from Arafat's compound before Powell arrives.

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks and military vehicles rolled into Bir Zeit, the West Bank's most prominent university town. Israeli forces also entered the West Bank town of Daharyeh near Hebron. There were no immediate reports of fighting in either location. The Israel Defense Forces said the operations were part of the army's mission to locate terrorists and weapons.

The incursions followed an Israeli pullback late Wednesday from 24 West Bank villages. The Bush administration praised the pullback as a move in the right direction, although it falls short of the full withdrawal from the West Bank demanded by the international community, including the United States.

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"I think the president has made his position clear: He wants the incursion stopped. He has noted some progress, but he wants to see more progress. And this is what I'll be discussing with Prime Minister Sharon in the morning," Powell said.

The IDF said Thursday the Israeli military is in full control of the Jenin refugee camp and the fighting there is over. The camp has seen intense fighting in the past week.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat claimed Wednesday that 500 Palestinians had been killed in Jenin and Nablus alone, but an Israeli government spokesman accused Erakat of "recycling lies" and an IDF spokesman Thursday put the number killed in Jenin at about 100.

The IDF said 28 Israeli soldiers were killed as a result of the operation. Inside Israel, there have been five suicide bombings since the operation began on the evening of March 28. A total of 27 Israelis have died in those incidents, including eight killed Wednesday in a bus bombing near Haifa.

The United Nations said about 3,000 people in the Jenin refugee camp have been left homeless by the fighting. An Israeli government official did not dispute the number, but said many Palestinians had to leave because terrorists had taken over the camp.

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

Powell: Focus on negotiations

Before leaving for Israel, Powell held talks with Abdullah in Amman. In remarks after that session, he emphasized finding a way to replace the violence with a political process.

Powell said he would "move aggressively with respect to getting the political track started."

After meeting with Powell, Abdullah told CNN that the U.S. secretary's mission is a "make-it-or-break-it trip" -- but one only the United States is capable of carrying out.

The king said Powell needs to make some progress, even if it is modest. "If he could open the door just ajar, then we could get momentum going."

Before leaving Spain for Jordan on Thursday, Powell said he had spoken with Sharon, and said the Israeli prime minister "is very anxious to meet with me so we can talk about next steps, how we move forward from this current situation to get back to discussions that would lead to a negotiating summit."

In his public comments, Powell did not repeat U.S. demands that Israel immediately withdraw from its positions in Palestinian towns and cities.

"However long the Israeli incursions continue, whether they pull out of everywhere today or whether they pull out of everywhere they are now in over a longer period of time, the problem will still be there -- people who need to be brought into a negotiating process that will lead to peace," Powell said. (Full story)

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