Four Palestinians were killed today when their car exploded near the West Bank town of Tulkarm in a blast Palestinian security sources blamed on Israeli forces.
Meanwhile tonight it was reported two Israeli tanks were in flames in separate areas of the West Bank city of Ramallah after being hit by RPG anti-tank missiles.
The first tank was seen in flames in the western Al-Bireh district following a large explosion, witnesses said. The second tank was in the southern Massiun district, close to Ramallah hospital, security sources and witnesses told reporters.
|
|
Mr Anthony Zinni
|
The attacks occurred as the US State Department called for a "complete withdrawal" of Israeli forces from Palestinian-controlled areas "including Ramallah."
"We do expect a complete withdrawal from Palestinian-controlled areas, including (the Palestinian West Bank town of) Ramallah and the other areas, that the Israeli Defense Forces recently entered," said State Department spokesman Mr Richard Boucher.
The killings threatened to inflame tensions just as US envoy Mr Anthony Zinni arrived in Jerusalem to pursue an end to more than 17 months of Middle East bloodshed.
"A yellow taxi was driving in Bal'a (village) when it exploded. We don't know whether the car was booby-trapped by the Israelis or if they fired a missile at the car," a Palestinian security source told Reuters.
He said at least two of the dead were members of Fatah, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's movement.
Israeli security sources had no immediate comment on the explosion, but Israel Radio said security forces shot at the car which was filled with explosives. The strike followed an Israeli missile attack that killed a leading member of an armed group linked to Fatah.
Mr Zinni is to meet Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat on Saturday in the West Bank town of Ramallah, a Palestinian official said.
The retired US Marine Corps general is expected to arrive later today in Israel on a mission aiming to calm tensions and halt increasing violence in the region.
Mr Zinni will go straight into security meetings, a spokesman for the US embassy in Tel Aviv said. He did not provide details of Mr Zinni's schedule on Friday or Saturday.
US Secretary of State General Mr Colin Powell told Mr Arafat during a telephone conversation yesterday that Mr Zinni "was coming to apply the Tenet plan and the Mitchell report," an adviser to Mr Arafat said.
The June 2001 plan of CIA chief Mr George Tenet lays down steps to reach an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire. Its purpose is to resume security co-operation, end the violence and restore the situation that existed before the violence erupted in September.
Former US senator Mr George Mitchell has published a report calling for an unconditional cessation of violence followed by a "cooling-off period", confidence-building measures and the resumption of peace talks.
AFP