Israel Raids Nablus; Church Food Deal Collapses

Israeli tanks and troops invaded the largest city in the West Bank again Friday, while in Bethlehem a deal to get food to Palestinians inside the besieged Church of the Nativity broke down, dashing brief hopes of a breakthrough to end a monthlong standoff.

In Nablus, the five-hour raid targeted explosives depots and operatives of the radical Hamas movement, the army said. Three people--an Israeli officer, a Hamas activist and a Palestinian policeman--were killed when Israeli forces surrounded a building and came under fire, the army said.

In Bethlehem, as Greek Orthodox Palestinians marked a somber Good Friday, Palestinian officials who have served as mediators prepared to deliver food to the Church of the Nativity under what they believed to be a deal with the army. Inside, the more than 100 civilians, gunmen and Palestinian police eagerly awaited the delivery.

But the deal broke down after Israeli military officers insisted that the negotiators provide a list of the people inside, according to the Palestinians. Army officials declined to comment.

“The arrangements took all morning, and we thought it was all set,” said Salah Tamari, a mediator.

The food deal had been arranged in the first Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in days involving the standoff, and it fed expectations that the crisis could soon be resolved. But late Friday, pessimism had replaced such hope.

“What happened today does not encourage us to go on,” Tamari said.

Israel has made it clear that it intends to continue operations like the Nablus incursion. Despite U.S. demands that the Israeli military withdraw from West Bank territory it occupied during its recent offensive, the army has pulled its troops and tanks to the outskirts of Palestinian cities, establishing forward bases for launching raids at will.

Diplomats here say the tactics essentially have wiped out the concept of “Area A,” territories in the West Bank that are under full Palestinian control under terms of the 1993 Oslo peace accords. Holding sovereign territory is key to rebuilding the Palestinian Authority in the aftermath of Israel’s West Bank offensive, diplomats say.

“Some of these incursions may be attached to intelligence that the Israelis receive, but my guess is that some are based on making the point that ‘we can do this’ and trying to establish a baseline for future action,” a Western diplomat said Friday.