Troops reoccupy Bethlehem

ISRAELI troops reoccupied Bethlehem yesterday after 11 bus passengers, including four youngsters, were killed in a Jerusalem suicide bombing.

With troops back in Bethlehem, Israel was again in control of all Palestinian population centres in the West Bank except for Jericho mirroring the massive deployment that capped military offensives in April and June.

However, Israel's range of responses is limited; it is under pressure from the United States to keep a lid on Mideast violence while Washington concentrates on its campaign against Iraq. In responding to Thursday's bus bombing, the Israeli military was expected to stick to tried methods, such as hunting militants and demolishing homes of terror suspects.