An Armenian monk was shot and seriously wounded Wednesday at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity compound. The Israeli army and Palestinians each blamed the other for the shooting. The monk, identified as Armin Sinanian, 22, was in serious condition.
A Palestinian policeman, one of more than 200 Palestinians who remained holed up in the Church of the Nativity, told AP by telephone that Israeli troops shot a monk after breaking open a door. It was not immediately clear whether the door led into the compound or into the Church of the Nativity itself.
Israeli troops have been surrounding the church, where Palestinians have been holed up for over a week.
Jenin
In the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, the scene of the deadliest fighting during Israel's offensive, Palestinians fired sporadically Wednesday morning at Israeli troops advancing with bulldozers.
A Hamas leader in the area, Jamal Abdel Salam, said he received a phone call at midmorning from a member of Hamas' military wing who said he and his comrades had run out of ammunition. "This is the last call," Abdel Salam quoted the gunman as saying. "We are in a group inside a house. They (the Israelis) are at the door and they are coming to arrest us. Take care of my family."
Later Wednesday, about 300 camp residents, including fighters, women and children, surrendered to Israeli troops, AP reported.
More than 100 Palestinians are believed to have been killed in the Jenin camp, with many bodies still lying in the street. Among those reported dead was Mahmoud Tawalbeh, 23, a leader of the Islamic Jihad.
Nablus
In the city of Nablus, rescue workers on Wednesday retrieved the bodies of at least 14 Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces, thus bringing the total confirmed dead in the city since the start of the current Israeli invasion to 60.
Afternoon, word spread through the old city that Israeli soldiers had left the area, and residents, who had been confined to their homes for more than a week by an Israeli curfew, came into the streets, inspecting the trail of destruction.
On the outskirts of Nablus, Israeli tanks and helicopters shelled the Al Ain refugee camp, damaging some homes. After daybreak, soldiers called over loudspeakers on teen-age boys and men to come out of their homes, and witnesses saw hundreds of Palestinian men sitting on the ground in front of the camp's mosque.
The Israeli military said that since the start its massive assault in the West Bank, 28 Israeli soldiers have been killed. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Tuesday that at least 128 Palestinians have been killed and 337 wounded, but that the toll was projected to increase considerably.
Meanwhile, the Israeli security cabinet ministers decided Wednesday that the offensive against the Palestinians in the West Bank would continue, despite U.S. calls for a quick withdrawal from Palestinian areas, Israel Radio said.
The Cabinet ministers also said Israel's siege of the Church of the Nativity would not end until the Palestinians surrendered. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
