Israel pulled out of two dozen small towns and villages in the West Bank yesterday, but took over other Palestinian areas, sending mixed signals ahead of a truce mission by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he would not withdraw troops until Palestinian militias have been crushed.
In the Jenin refugee camp, scene of the deadliest fighting in Israel's two-week offensive, three dozen armed men, apparently the last holdouts, surrendered to Israeli troops yesterday.
Reporters touring the camp yesterday encountered widespread devastation. Army bulldozers had rammed their way through narrow alleys, shearing off front walls of homes. The gaping holes provided glimpses of ordinary lives left behind -- a school certificate hanging on a wall, children's beds, a bike thrown in the corner of the room, bookshelves with tea sets.
Many of the 13,000 residents of the shantytown had fled the fighting, and yesterday streets were largely deserted. Only a few civilians were outdoors, including a woman sitting in a wheelchair in the middle of a street.
At least 140 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, said Dr. Hussam Sherkawi, director of emergency services in the West Bank. Sherkawi said the figure was expected to rise once the military permitted rescue services to enter the Jenin camp, where dozens were believed dead. Sherkawi said it was impossible to confirm Palestinian claims of as many as 500 dead.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it has arrested 4,185 Palestinians in the two-week operation, a figure nearly double the one given only two days earlier. Among those in custody were 121 on Israel's wanted list, the army said.
In raids yesterday, Israeli troops entered the West Bank towns of Dahariyah and Bir Zeit and the Ein Beit Hilmeh refugee camp and carried out arrest sweeps.
A convoy of 15 Israeli tanks briefly entered the West Bank town of Tulkarem, one of two West Bank towns Israeli troops had left earlier in the week. In Tulkarem, troops arrested a 24-year-old Palestinian woman who, according to Israeli radio reports, was suspected of planning a suicide attack. The army had no comment.
At the same time, Israeli troops pulled out of about two dozen small towns and villages in what appeared to be a gesture ahead of Powell's arrival later yesterday.
Israel and the US appeared at odds over two key issues -- the speed of the Israeli pullback and the role of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who has been confined to a few rooms in his West Bank headquarters for the past two weeks.
In video footage taken in the compound Wednesday, Arafat appeared subdued, listening quietly to reports by senior advisers. His trademark stubble had grown into a beard and Arafat wore a pistol tucked into his khaki pants.
A Cabinet meeting room had been severely damaged in fighting in the compound. Ceiling panels were shown in the footage knocked askew, moulding was smashed and bullet holes scarred a wall.
Yesterday, a Palestinian man was killed when explosives he was carrying went off prematurely, near a taxi stand in the West Bank town of Hebron. Several bystanders were injured.
Three more Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire near the West Bank town of Arabe. The army said they were armed militants, while Palestinians said the dead were a farmer and his two wives.
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