More Palestinians were killed and Israel remained defiant over its re-occupation of Palestinian-ruled towns, ignoring a call by Washington for restraint, which has been voiced in a lower key, an agency said.
Three Palestinian young men were killed Wednesday morning in an Israeli tank and machinegun attack on the West Bank of Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian official news agency (WAFA).
The number of victims in the city rose to five since Tuesday night when two other Palestinians were shot dead by the occupation troops.
WAFA identified the three as Ayman and Mahmoud Jallad, and Saleh Rasheed Al Assi, and the first two were Bader Shaer, 50, and Talat Jabber, a 19-year-old policeman.
Witnesses told the agency that the Israeli occupied at least 10 houses in the town.
Meanwhile, the early hours of Wednesday witnessed a new incursion into the Ramallah village of Beit Reema.
AFP said that a column of Israeli tanks stormed the Palestinian village in the West Bank, apparently in search of suspected militants, the head of the village council told AFP.
Around 15 tanks rolled into Beit Reema, under cover of darkness, sealing off the community of around 4,000 people and sparking clashes, municipality president Abdel Karim Jasser told the agency by telephone.
At least four Palestinian security officials and one civilian were wounded in the new incursion, according to Reuters.
A spokesman for the Red Crescent medical aid group told AFP that at least two people had been reported injured when the tanks entered the self-rule Palestinian village, but said the Israeli army was not allowing ambulances into Beit Reema.
The operation, backed by helicopter support, came just hours after the United States toned down its call for Israel to end its invasion of six Palestinian towns "immediately," revising its demand to "as soon as possible, ” said AFP.
Jasser said Israeli troops were knocking on all the doors of the village in an apparent search for suspected extremists. He said he had refused to open his door out of fear of the troops, but said "many" arrests had been made.
A witness living outside the village said even more tanks were involved in the operation, with a number of vehicles remaining on the edge of the locality to seal it off.
Israel sent in its forces to towns the length of the West Bank after Palestinian extremists assassinated Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi a week ago.
Washington slammed the Israeli action Monday in one of its sternest rebukes to its close ally yet, in particular condemning the deaths of around 30 people since the partial re-occupation of Palestinian autonomous towns.
But after meeting with visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres the US administration toned down its tough line.
Israel says it will withdraw when the Palestinian Authority hands over Zeevi's assassins, something the PA has refused, saying it goes far beyond its obligations under a moribund ceasefire agreement.
Bush was quoted by New York Times as saying, "I would hope the Israelis would move their troops as quickly as possible." And Secretary Powell reiterated his demand, made on Monday, for an immediate pullout, a spokesman said.
Peres said: "We would like to withdraw immediately. The minute the Palestinians will take the necessary steps, this may happen." – Albawaba.com
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