Israel is tightening its grip on Jenin, scouring the battered West Bank city for Palestinian militants responsible for suicide bombings as a US peace mission wound down indecisively.
The Israeli army said today it detained six Palestinians in and near Jenin.
Hundreds of troops backed by heavy armour rolled into Jenin yesterday, commandeering buildings, searching homes and imposing curfews. The army drew fire from gunmen and also on the diplomatic front from the European Union, which urged restraint.
Israeli military chiefs said the Jenin operation - dubbed "Vanguard" - would last as long as necessary to flush out militants waging a Palestinian uprising for independence with suicide bombings such as one which killed 14 Israelis on Monday.
Palestinian medics said six people were seriously wounded in clashes with the army - violence which overshadowed the end of a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories by US envoy Mr William Burns.
Mr Burns came with a "roadmap" for peace based on a Middle East policy speech last June by President George W. Bush, who has been seeking to lower Israeli-Palestinian tensions as Washington prepares for possible war on Iraq.
The US plan calls for an end to violence and for Palestinian administrative reforms and Israeli army withdrawals from occupied cities, leading to a final settlement and a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by 2005.
Israeli leaders said the plan - drafted by a "quartet" of mediators from the United States, Russia, the European Union and United Nations - lacked security guarantees. The Palestinians said it needed timetables and enforcement mechanisms.