Israel May Yield On Week's Peace

After one of the bloodiest days in the past 17 months of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indicated to the United States he's willing to drop his insistence on a week of peace before implementing a U.S. peace plan.

Israeli sources say he announced his change of position during a telephone call with Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Early Saturday morning, at least one Israeli helicopter fired as many as four missiles at Palestinian Authority installations, including the office compound of the governor in Nablus, according to Palestinian officials.

Although there was extensive structural damage, there were no immediate reports of casualties. Palestinians have mostly abandoned security posts because they have been targeted by Israel.

Sharon has faced growing criticism inside Israel for failing to stop the escalating violence and also drew a rare rebuke from the United States this week for military strikes that have taken a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians.

After insisting he would not hold formal truce talks while attacks continued, Sharon told Israeli television on Friday: "Negotiations for a ceasefire will be held under fire."

The United States on Friday called for immediate implementation of the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan agreed to last year, even before Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni begins a new mission there next week.

But Zinni will have his work cut out for him, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger: Israel tanks and troops launched a major offensive against villages and refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip killing more than 30 Palestinians, including two 9- and 11-year-old boys, a general, a hospital administrator and an ambulance worker.

And in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian gunman stormed into a Jewish settlement, opening fire in all directions and throwing grenades. Five Israeli students were killed and 20 people were wounded before the gunman was shot dead.

A U.S. official said the Bush administration wanted to see action on the ground "as quickly as possible," not necessarily after the seven-day period of calm demanded by Israel.

"Zinni's goal is to get the parties to implement the Tenet security work plan steps immediately, to get them to take steps even before he gets there," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher added at a daily briefing.

But leaked texts say that Israel and the Palestinian Authority should immediately resume security cooperation, enforce a cease-fire, exchange information on threats and start work on a plan to redeploy Israeli forces.

"I am deeply concerned about the tragic loss of life and escalating violence in the Middle East," Mr. Bush said in Washington. "There are no assurances (of success). That's not going to prevent our government from trying."

Both sides are welcoming the Zinni mission, reports Berger.

"We are prepared to give him every chance to make his mission succeed," said Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat.

But each side has a different concept of success: Israel wants U.S. pressure on Yasser Arafat to stop terrorism. The Palestinians want an end to Israeli military strikes and blockades.

Both sides are skeptical about a breakthrough, after so many peace missions have failed.

Hours-long battles raged in a Gaza village and two West Bank refugee camps, with Palestinians coming under heavy machine gun fire from Israeli tanks and helicopters. "The sky was raining with bullets from all directions," farmer Hatem Abu Teir said of the Israeli assault on the Gaza village of Khouza, where 16 Palestinians, including a general, were killed.

In the Tulkarem camp, one of those under siege, soldiers with bullhorns called on all men to surrender, and about 250, including several members of the security forces, were rounded up in a local school. However, several gunmen remained in hiding places. Israeli troops barred ambulances from entering the camp to retrieve casualties.

In the Jewish settlement of Atzmona, a Palestinian gunman killed five Israeli teen-agers during a 15-minute rampage that began just before midnight Thursday. The assailant, a 19-year-old member of the Islamic militant group Hamas, emptied nine ammunition clips and threw six grenades before he was shot dead by Israeli troops. Four of the teen-agers were killed while studying religious texts, and the fifth was burned to death by a grenade hurled into his dormitory.

"Prime Minister Sharon has to take a hard look at his policies to see whether they will work," said Boucher at the State Department. "Declaring war against the Palestinians and attempting to solve the problem through military action doesn't lead us anywhere."

He criticized Israel's assassination of prominent Palestinians and attacks on ambulances and hospitals.

"Israel needs to ensure that maximum care is taken to prevent harm to humanitarian workers, and that procedures are put in place that allow safe and secure passage for humanitarian purposes through Israeli checkpoints," he said.

He also repeated the U.S. appeal to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to do more to crack down on militants.

Boucher said the decision to send Zinni back to the Middle East was a response to the "really horrific violence" of the last few days, in which scores of people have been killed.

Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general, will probably leave for the Middle East in the middle of next week, accompanied by veteran mediator Aaron Miller, the official added.