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. -News for Mon. 08 April & Tue. 09 April 2002


Sharon Says Offensive Will Continue

VOA News
9 Apr 2002 16:42 UTC
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says Israel's offensive in the West Bank will continue until Israel has destroyed what he calls the infrastructure of Palestinian terror groups. 

He spoke after 13 Israeli soldiers were killed and seven were wounded today in the Jenin refugee camp, where there has been stiff resistance to the Israeli assault. The army says booby-traps blew up a building which crushed some soldiers. Others were killed by gunfire from surrounding rooftops. 

Israeli troops have been going house to house in Palestinian towns and refugee camps searching for weapons and wanted militants. Palestinian officials estimate more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the Jenin camp over the last week, and there have been heavy casualties elsewhere. 

Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gunships entered the town of Dura, near Hebron, early Tuesday on the 12th day of the Israeli offensive. Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in Dura and arrested dozens of people. 

Israeli forces withdrew from Qalqilya and Tulkarm before dawn but are still enforcing a blockade on the extensively damaged towns. Israel says its operation to wipe out militant networks there was completed successfully. 

The United States has been putting heavy pressure on Israel to withdraw. The White House says President Bush is still looking for results from his demand for Israel to end the offensive now. The European Union called the pull-out from the two towns positive but not enough - and demanded an immediate cease-fire. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP. 

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