Smoke rising over the re-occupied town of Qalqilya

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, June 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The Israeli occupation army blew up a residential building in the autonomous West Bank town of Qalqilya early Thursday, June 20. This comes after a statement released by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office, in which Israel announced that it will respond to Palestinian attacks by re-occupying Palestinian lands.

In a huge explosion heard all over town, the army destroyed the building made of 25 apartments and several homes nearby, the Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported.

Two Israeli occupation soldiers, a commander and a sergeant, were killed on Wednesday, June 19, in a clash with Palestinian resistance fighters in Qalqilya, an Israeli military spokesman announced Thursday, June 20.

Four other soldiers, including two officers, were also injured in the clash, in which a Palestinian security official, Mazen Slimane, was killed. The source said one of Slimane’s aides was captured, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The clash occurred around a Palestinian security building, and the senior officer died while trying to force his way into the building. The sergeant was then killed by heavy gun and grenade fire.

The Israeli occupation army had mounted an incursion the previous night in Qalqilya and Jenin in the northern West Bank after a Palestinian resistance bombing on a Jerusalem bomb that killed 19 Israelis on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Israeli armed forces seized more Palestinian areas Thursday, including the Palestinian controlled West Bank town of Bethlehem , and the outskirts of Ramallah, witnesses said.

Troops backed by some 60 tanks and armored troop carriers and overflying helicopters, moved into Bethlehem from several directions, and took up positions in the center of the town near the Church of the Nativity and Dheisheh refugee camp.

Some 20 tanks and armored personnel carriers entered the town of Beitunia , on the southeastern edge of Ramallah, which is where Arafat's headquarters are located, security sources said.

The units then took up positions in an abandoned building in Beitunia near the West Bank city. Some sporadic gunfire could be heard in the city, but Israeli army radio said the forces met no resistance.

An Israeli military spokesman refused to comment on the two operations, which followed an Israeli government announcement of a new hard-line policy to seize and occupy Palestinian territory for as long as the attacks continue.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat himself later issued a call on his fellow Palestinians for a “complete halt” to all attacks on Israel .

“In line with my responsibilities, I announce my concern in the interest of our people and our future, my total condemnation of all operations targeting Israeli civilians, which have nothing to do with our legitimate right to resist [Israeli] occupation.”

On the ground, the Israeli army also moved into the town Jenin and its refugee camp, scenes of Israeli war crimes in Israel ’s recent military offensive on the West Bank , and began rounding up hundreds of residents, Palestinian sources said.

Israeli helicopter gunships also fired missiles on several metal factories in the Gaza Strip late Wednesday, wounding six people, Palestinian security and hospital sources said.

The latest bloodshed came at a crucial moment in the Middle East conflict, with Bush trying to finalize a peace strategy based around the declaration of what the U.S. calls a “provisional” Palestinian state.

The White House said that in the wake of events on the ground, U.S. President George W. Bush would not be making any immediate announcement on his blueprint to end the nearly 21-month-old conflict.

“The president wants to give a speech at a time when it will have the maximum impact to bring the maximum prospects for peace to the region,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.

The U.S. leader had been expected to lay out this week his vision for Middle East peace, which is expected to include steps towards creating a Palestinian state with “temporary” borders while demanding the Palestinians enact sweeping reforms to make Israel more secure.

Late Wednesday, Bush discussed the issue with top foreign policy advisers during a regularly scheduled National Security Council meeting.

Aides say the establishment of a permanent Palestinian state could be the reward for ambitious political and security reforms and an end of attacks on Israel . It was unclear what timetable the president would set.

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