Israel pulls back tanks

Israel has kept up its show of force

Israeli tanks have pulled back from Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank, following a second night of tension.

Earlier, Israeli television had reported that "a military operation involving a large number of soldiers" was under way.

The action in Jenin was Israel's deepest incursion in the West Bank since the intifada started

Meanwhile, another Palestinian activist has been killed under Israel's policy of assassinating those it accuses of carrying out or planning attacks against its citizens.

Imad Abu Sneineh, 27, a member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, was shot dead by an Israeli sniper outside his house in the West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday morning.

Israeli sources said he was wanted for organising shootings at Jewish settlers.

Tuesday night's show of force was apparently in response to recent suicide bombings and shooting incidents. An army spokesman, however, denied the troop movements were unusual.

Tanks were seen poised on the outskirts of the Palestinian towns of Bethlehem, Beit Jalla and Beit Sahour.

But they did not enter territory under full Palestinian control, unlike on Monday night when they entered the town of Jenin.

The Israeli troop movements may also have been a response to reports that Palestinian gunmen in Beit Jalla fired on the nearby Jewish settlement of Gilo in a disputed part of Jerusalem on Tuesday morning.

US criticism

The latest developments followed the United States' criticism of Israel's earlier raid on Jenin as "provocative".

The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack as a "declaration of war".

There have been regular exchanges of fire between Beit Jalla and Gilo

It was Israel's deepest incursion in the West Bank since the Palestinian uprising started 10 months ago.

The United States urged both sides to restore calm following the Israeli tank thrust, which saw police buildings demolished and the governor's house surrounded.

"As we have said before, Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory are provocative and undermine efforts to create an atmosphere of calm," said US National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack.

"We urge both sides to take immediate steps to restore an atmosphere of restraint and calm," Mr McCormack said.

Palestinian warning

The Israeli army said the Jenin raid was to warn Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to rein in militants engaged in an uprising against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza.

Right-wing Israelis are delighted by the seizure of Orient House

The Palestinian Authority appealed to the United Nations for international protection, and the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, said Israel would pay for the attack.

Three Palestinian security officers and a civilian were injured during the Jenin raid, in which between 10 and 20 Israeli tanks supported by helicopters destroyed the police headquarters.

Israel's army chief of staff, General Shaul Mofaz, said Jenin had become a "city of bombers" - a reference to the origins of two Palestinian men who blew themselves up at Israeli restaurants in Jerusalem and Haifa last week.

The first suicide attack killed 15 people. It prompted the Israelis to occupy Orient House, the Palestinians' political headquarters in the Arab eastern sector of the city.

Meanwhile, Mr Arafat travelled to Cairo on Wednesday for a series of meetings with Arab leaders about the crisis. There is concern that Israel is winning the international propaganda and publicity war.

In another development, the UN World Food Programme has appealed for help for a quarter of a million Palestinians it says are suffering from food shortages because of Israel's economic blockade of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.