Israeli troops kill nine in raid

ISRAELI forces killed nine Palestinians in a raid in the Gaza Strip yesterday.

The action came as Israel's siege of Yasser Arafat's headquarters drew rare US criticism and caused a diplomatic deadlock at the United Nations.

Only hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon publicly raised the possibility that a Gaza operation targeting the militant Islamic group Hamas could follow Israel's moves against Mr Arafat, an Israeli armoured force rumbled into two Gaza City suburbs.

It appeared the incursion by about a dozen tanks backed by helicopter gunships was limited in scope.

Israeli soldiers blew up 13 metal workshops suspected of forming a makeshift weapons factory as well as the family home of a militant, the army said.

The forces withdrew after several hours from Gaza City with no Israeli casualties, the army said. Hospital officials said nine Palestinians, some of them civilians, were killed and more than 20 wounded.

The United States abstained on a UN Security Council resolution yesterday demanding Israel stop its siege of Mr Arafat's compound, allowing the measure to go into force.

The resolution, approved by the other 14 council members after 11 hours of talks, also called on the Palestinian Authority to ensure those responsible for terrorist acts were brought to justice.

The United States has vetoed similar measures in the past, But diplomats said Washington decided against doing so as not to alienate Arab opinion during its campaign against Iraq. Earlier, the White House said US President George W Bush "views what Israel is doing now as unhelpful to the cause of bringing about reform in Palestinian institutions".

Yesterday's raid death toll was the largest in a single day in Gaza since an Israeli air strike on July 23 killed a senior Hamas militant, Salah Shehadeh, and 14 others, including nine children.

A few hours earlier in the West Bank, more than 1,000 Palestinians, many honking car horns and banging dustbin lids, took to the streets of Ramallah, defying Israeli curfew to support Arafat in the face of the siege on his headquarters.

Also yesterday, in the West Bank city of Hebron, an Israeli man was killed and three of his children, aged nine, 12 and 18, were wounded in a Palestinian shooting attack as thousands of Israelis marched to a disputed holy site the Tomb of the Patriarchs to mark the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot.

The US administration criticised the Israeli assault against Mr Arafat, entering its fifth day, saying in a statement it had "aggravated" efforts to improve security and to reform the Palestinian leadership.

Israeli critics of Mr Sharon say the third siege in 10 months has revived the Palestinian leader's popularity and thwarted American and Israeli efforts to sideline him.

The assault on Mr Arafat's office has made an already tense situation even more volatile. With Mr Arafat ringed by troops and confined to a building Palestinians claim is in danger of collapse, Israel cannot guarantee the Palestinian leader's safety. Harm to Mr Arafat, even unintentional, could ignite the region.

Mr Arafat's isolation has triggered other street protests some orchestrated and others spontaneous reminiscent of the scenes that marked the beginning of Palestinian-Israeli fighting two years ago.

Israeli troops moved into Mr Arafat's compound after two back-to-back suicide attacks in the Israeli cities of Umm al-Fahm and Tel Aviv last week, killing the two bombers and seven other people. Israel is demanding that all the men in Mr Arafat's office building surrender for questioning.