Sharon hints at move on Gaza

By PHIL REEVES

TEL AVIV - Signs were gathering yesterday that Ariel Sharon may be planning an imminent military offensive against the Gaza Strip, the heartland of anti-Israeli militancy.

The Israeli Prime Minister told the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee that terror in the Gaza Strip was ongoing, reported Israeli Army Radio.

The remarks will be seen by many Israelis as an indication that tanks and troops are poised to strike.

Gaza is said by sources to be "wired" for an attack, raising the possibility of a battle which could dwarf the nine-day conflict that led to the devastation of the Jenin refugee camp.

A senior Israeli Army officer reported to the same committee that there had been 250 terror attacks in the strip.

Amid international concerns that there may soon be another stage of Sharon's "war on terror", efforts continued to resolve the stand-off that resulted from the first phase.

Israeli and Palestinian officials held their first direct talks over ending a three-week siege in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, where conditions have steadily worsened for the several hundred people inside the basilica.

Israeli Army negotiators appeared determined not to budge from their demand for the surrender of between 35 and 40 Palestinian alleged militants, to be put on trial or to accept exile from the occupied territories.

The Palestinian negotiators - who described the session as "constructive" - are pushing for a solution, proposed in the early stage of the crisis, under which the wanted men would be removed to the Gaza Strip under international guarantees.

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