Haifa----April 10.......Just as Israel began to give into American pressure for withdrawing it's troops from the West Bank, an Arab Islamic suicide bomber blew himself up this morning, killing 10 passengers on a Haifa bus. The attack took place around 7 a.m. as rush hour was just beginning. The murder of innocent Israeli civilians inside Israel's "Green Line" comes a day after 13 Israeli soldiers died in a terror ambush attack in Jenin.

The suicide bombing on an express bus from Haifa to Jerusalem injured at least 14 people, medics said, and brought more horror to the northern port city, which has been the scene of frequent attacks. The explosion went off near Kibbutz Yagur, a communal farm just east of Haifa and about 15 miles from the West Bank.

Israelis feared that an attack such as this would take place as IDF troops began leaving Tulkarm and Qalqiliya. Since the beginning of Operation Defensive Shield, Arab Islamic activity had been severely reduced. In addition, many Israelis are now blaming the Bush administration for yesterday's fatal attack on IDF troops. The IDF has repeatedly stated that an effective operation against terrorism would take weeks and not days. Pressure from the US administration may have very well caused these soldiers who are being buried today to have acted with haste rather than with more precision.
Another contrast between Israel's war on terrorism and the United States assault on Afghanistan, is that Israeli troops are operating on the ground at higher risk as the US utilizes carpet bombing methods from the air. The Israeli government has not and will not use these tactics as they could harm innocent civilians.

Hours before the bus bombing, Israeli forces opened the 13th day of their campaign with a predawn raid on a terrorist center in Nablus, the West Bank's largest city. Smoke could be seen rising from the camp as the area was pounded with artillery fire, heavy machine guns and dozens of missiles fired from helicopters.

Hours after Israel withdraws troops from the West Bank,
Israeli civilians are slaughtered by Arab terrorists Photo: AP

The search for terrorists also continued in a refugee camp next to the northern city of Jenin, where terrorists who say they would rather die than surrender have battled Israeli troops in a maze of narrow alleyways. Troops were firing mortars into the camp early Wednesday and bulldozers were demolishing homes which were being used by the terrorists, Israel Radio reported.

An IDF military spokesman said a rapid series of blasts went off in the alley — one of them detonated by a suicide bomber — and collapsed part of a building on several soldiers. Another soldier was killed in later fighting in the camp.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed ``Operation Defensive Shield'' will go on until it the army completes its mission: ``the destruction of the infrastructure of the terror groups.'' ``This is a battle for survival of the Jewish people, for survival of the state of Israel,'' Sharon said on Israel TV.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, due to arrive in Israel late Thursday, said he was optimistic his mission could bring a truce and lead to negotiations. Speaking in Cairo, Powell said he would meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as well as Sharon and said the United States was willing to deploy observers to monitor any cease-fire.

Israel had said it would keep Arafat isolated in his Ramallah headquarters, where he has been confined since the West Bank campaign began. But Israeli officials said Tuesday they would not prevent Powell from meeting the Palestinian leader.

Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield on March 29 to crush terrorists after a series of Arab suicide bombings.

Aside from the deaths in Jenin camp, an Israeli soldier was killed Tuesday in the city of Nablus, though the military said it may have been by errant Israeli fire.

The Jenin camp in the northern West Bank, home to more than 13,000 Palestinians, has been the site of the most intense fighting of the Israeli assault, with gunmen inside battling Israeli soldiers for the past week. All but three of Israel's casualties in the campaign have occurred in the camp.

By Tuesday, several hundred gunmen had been pushed into a small area of the camp, with Israeli helicopter gunships providing heavy cover fire for ground troops, witnesses said.

Camp resident Jamal Abdel Salam, an activist in the Islamic militant Hamas group, said the gunmen told him ``they said they prefer death to surrender.''

In the double ambush, one group of soldiers was walking in a narrow alley when the bombs went off, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ron Kitrey said. One of the blasts was set off by a Palestinian who blew himself up, while the other explosives were wired together, he said, killing several soldiers and bringing a house down on three of them.

Just a few yards away, Israeli soldiers who had entered the courtyard of a house came under heavy fire from Palestinian gunmen on rooftops, and several more soldiers were killed, Kitrey told The Associated Press. The wounded and three bodies were recovered.

In Nablus, troops took control of the densely populated downtown area, or casbah, after several days of fierce resistance by Palestinian terrorists. At least 41 Palestinians were killed in the fighting there, but the toll was not final because bodies remained in the streets, medics said.

Israeli forces also raided the small town of Dura, south of Hebron, leveling two Palestinian intelligence and security compounds and rounding up men for questioning, Palestinian security officials said. Two Palestinians were killed in exchanges of fire with Israeli forces, the officials said.

In the Palestinian-controlled territory in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, three Israeli tanks and a bulldozer began demolishing a Palestinian security post and olive and orange trees, witnesses said. The area in Deir el-Balah, south of Gaza City, has been the site of several mortar attacks on Israeli troops in recent days. The Israeli military would not comment immediately on the report.

Meanwhile, a standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, built over the traditional birthplace of Jesus, entered its second week, straining delicate relations between Israel and the Vatican. More than 200 armed Palestinian terrorists attacked and captured the church taking dozens of Christians hostage. The church is presently surrounded by Israeli troops. The ID, which is making every attempt not to harm the church and risking their lives as a result, said that negotiations were under way, and that one proposal was to have the gunmen surrender to a third party.

Israeli officials said the decision was made to pull out of Qalqiliya and Tulkarem — which remained encircled by Israeli troops — after President Bush sharply called on Israel to end its offensive. Powell said he hoped the withdrawal early Tuesday was ``the beginning of the end'' of the spiraling violence.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the West Bank assault has ``dealt a heavy blow to the terrorist infrastructure.''

The Israel Defense Forces says it detained 1,600 Palestinians — of whom 84 were wanted terrorists — and seized more than 1,300 assault rifles, 387 sniper rifles, 49 anti-tank grenades, 256 machine guns, 58 bombs and 65 pounds of explosives. The IDF has also found 11 explosives laboratories.