Sharon vows to seek out wanted men

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was condemned in the British House of Commons as a ‘‘war criminal’’, has today vowed to keep Israeli troops in Ramallah and biblical Bethlehem until wanted men holed up there surrender.

British MPs voiced their anger over his troops’ incursions into Palestinian territory in a Commons debate yesterday.

Reports emerging from Jenin suggest that many civilians may have died as Israeli troops hunting terror suspects assaulted the West Bank refugee camp.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat also came in for harsh criticism for his failure to halt suicide bombings against Israeli targets, with one MP describing him as a ‘‘paymaster of terror’’.

Israeli forces have also rolled into a West Bank town and four villages near Jerusalem, imposing curfews as part of a high security alert for the country’s Independence Day.

The US has called for a full and immediate end to the Israeli military campaign, which Israel says is aimed at dismantling Palestinian militias behind deadly attacks on civilians, but it was reported that US Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared ready to settle for something short of the formal ceasefire he left Washington in search of 10 days ago.

Yesterday, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told MPs that the only ‘‘sane’’ solution to the Middle East conflict was the establishment of two states existing peacefully side by side.

‘‘There is no future for these territories, no real future for Israel, unless they can reach an accommodation,’’ he said.

While there would have to be negotiations about precise frontiers, there was no question that Israel would have to withdraw from Palestinian land, in line with UN Security Council resolutions, said Mr Straw.

Labour former minister Gerald Kaufman denounced Mr Sharon as a ‘‘war criminal’’ and a ‘‘fool’’.