Israel pulls back from Gaza under heavy U.S. pressure

GAZA — Israel has pledged to immediately withdraw its troops from Palestinian Authority areas in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli pledge came amid heavy pressure from the United States. The Israeli military said the withdrawal would begin on late Tuesday and take several hours.

Israeli sources said the Bush administration sent Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a message that demanded an immediate military withdrawal from areas captured in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday. The sources said the administration was dismayed by the angry Arab and Western reaction to the Israeli operation.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell criticized the Israeli capture of PA territory. "The hostilities last night in Gaza were precipitated by the provocative Palestinian mortar attack on Israel," Powell said in the statement. "The Israeli response was excessive and disproportionate. There can be no military solution to this conflict."

Sharon had planned to pull Israeli troops before the U.S. message was relayed, the sources said. They said Sharon had agreed to implement the withdrawal Tuesday after dark after consulting with Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer on Tuesday morning.

The invasion by air, sea and ground forces was the largest Israeli military action in the more than six-month-old war with the Palestinians and appeared to effectively end the rule by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat over the Gaza Strip. Arafat arrived in Cairo from Amman as the Israeli counteroffensive began.

Israeli officials said the invasion was prompted by a Palestinian mortar attack on the Israeli city of Sderot on late Monday. At least five 82 mm mortars were fired toward Sderot in two salvos in a neighborhood named after the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who launched a reconciliation effort with Arafat in 1993. The mortars have a range of 1.4 kilometers or nearly a mile.

After the Palestinian attack, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened his ministerial security committee and close to midnight, Israeli attack helicopters and tanks were launching a counteroffensive against PA positions throughout the Gaza Strip. The operation, which lasted four hours, began in the northern Gaza Strip and extended to the south.

In all, seven PA installations were targeted. Israeli forces did not enter Gaza City, the de facto capital of the PA, or any other Palestinian cities.

"We are not talking about an occupation," Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ron Kitri said shortly after the invasion. "We are talking about a takeover. In some cases, our forces entered several hundred meters or one kilometer [in PA-controlled areas]. How long will this be? How long it takes. It could be days or more. We want quiet."

Palestinian sources said Israel used fighter-jets and AH-64A attack helicopters to bomb PA security installations. These included the offices of PA security chief Mohammed Dahlan and those of Arafat's Force 17 praetorian guard. Both agencies have been accused of carrying out recent Palestinian attacks against Israel.

By dawn Tuesday, the Gaza Strip was divided into three Israeli-controlled zones. The exception was Gaza City, which remained under PA control. Palestinian sources said a PA officer was killed and 26 others were injured during the Israeli operation.

Palestinians forces put up little resistance to the Israeli invasion, despite a televised appeal from PA secretary-general Tayeb Abdul Rahim. Arafat did not directly address the Palestinians.

On Tuesday, the Islamic opposition group, Hamas, claimed responsibility for the mortar attack on Sderot. PA intelligence chief Amin Hindi justified the mortar fire in an interview with PA radio on Tuesday.

In the West Bank, Palestinians and Israeli forces exchanged fire on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Israeli tanks fired shells toward the Bethlehem suburbs of Bet Jallah and El Khader.