AGG[ii TERNATIONAL is a MIS ar- ul, to tg, ds. H\ KRT CAMPUS Israeli troops and their armored vehicles wait to enter the Palestinian town of Bethlehem. srael controls Bethlehem akeover forces Palestinians to take shelter RAMALLAH. West Bank (AP) — Israel zed control of Bethlehem and another Wesl nk town Tuesday in a day of wild fighting that tat least 13 Palestinians dead. Palestinian gun- n forced their way into the Church of the tivity, where tradition says Jesus was bom. Israeli tanks and helicopters pounded the adquarters of a Palestinian security chief. Amid what has become the fiercest Israeli ensive in 18 months of conflict, Palestinian fder Yasser Arafat angrily rejected an Israeli iferto free him from confinement in his com- lund in the West Bank town of Ramallah — ovided he goes into exile. Arafat spent a fifth raight day pinned down by Israeli troops and nks, his compound now ringed by barbed wire. Israeli troops pressed ahead with house-to- ouse searches for Palestinian militants and eapons as part of what Israel calls “Operation 'rotective Wall" — aimed at halting terror ittacks targeting Israelis. In the seventh such attack in as many days, a I Palestinian man blew himself up Tuesday night Toll mounts over six days Tuesday’s fighting came as Israel widened its five-day-old military offensive “Operation Protective Wall," launched to uproot militants blamed for a sting of terror attacks on Israelis. West Bank |— March 29 Israeli Cabinet declares Arafat an 'enemy." Troops enter city and confine Arafat to an office building within his compound. Ramallah Bethlehem April 2 Heavy fighting around religious sites when security forces stopped him at a checkpoint in Baka al-Sharkiyeh, a Palestinian village along the line between Israel and the West Bank. The man detonated explosives strapped around his body, killing himself but not injuring others, the military said. In a dramatic gesture that underscored hard ships caused by the Israeli incursion, Palestinians buried 15 of their dead in a hospital parking lot in Ramallah. Families of the dead had been unable to claim the bodies, which were decomposing in a hospital morgue because power cuts made refrigeration impossible. Relatives wailed and gunfire from fighting echoed as the bodies were placed in common graves carved out by a bull dozer — one for 13 men, one for two women. Ramallah residents, though, got a respite of a few hours from a curfew that has been in effect since Israeli tanks and troops moved in on Friday. People poured into the shops, lugging away can isters of cooking oil and plastic bags bulging with pita bread. Canned goods were popular, as many people have no electricity and perishable food has been rotting in refrigerators. By nightfall, most of the about 400 Palestinians trapped in the compound of West Bank security chief Jibril Rajoub near Ramallah had surrendered to Israeli troops, in a deal bro kered by U.S. and European officials. About eight men remained inside. The sprawling compound was battered by the Israeli onslaught, with gaping holes punched in rooftops and building facades by shellfire and rockets. Holy places were not immune from violence that raged the length and breadth of the West Bank. Dozens of armed Palestinians were holed up inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, which is built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born. About 20 of the gunmen were wounded and being tended to by nuns, according to witnesses trapped in the church compound. The armed men, some of them Palestinian policemen, forced their way into the church after running battles with Israeli troops firing from helicopter gunships and from tank-mounted machine guns. At nightfall, the bodies of four gunmen lay sprawled just off Manger Square, where the church is located. As the fighting intensified, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposed publicly for the first time that diplomats fly Arafat into exile. Sharon noted such a move would require Cabinet approval. NEWS IN BRIEF Radio Free Europe/Radio ^^^gfiberty begin broadcasting . P ^GUE, Czech Republic (AP) — Radio Free )layed the a -Urope/Radio Liberty will start broadcasting to the said his r ' North Caucasus region this week, officials I guy in the ^ Tuesday, after a month's delay amid concerns portunitiest ^ angering Russia over the war in Chechnya. iA/asa great 0 ! 5 ' °nia Winter, a spokesperson for the U.S. gov- ilented filn 1,11 ^ nrr| ent-funded broadcaster, said the two-hour a thriller^ 'V Programming will start Wednesday, pro em a trio° " ° e d by nine staffers of the newly established anctuary. r 01 Caucasus service. The service will be in ]ht Club, J f!, r v regional languages Chechen, Avar and i to debut 2) cassian, as well as Russian, o studio T e broadcast had been scheduled to begin Feb. 28 but was delayed at the request of the State Department on grounds it could set back efforts to start a dialogue on ending the Chechnya war. In Washington, however, State Department spokesperson Philip Reeker said the delay was sought to allow the department time to consult Congress on the best use of funds. Reeker added that RFE/RL are not subordinate to the State Department and do not broadcast editori als in support of U.S. government policies. The sta tions attempt to provide objective reporting, he said. 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