Bush tells Israel to withdraw ‘now’

US President George W. Bush called on Israel to withdraw its forces ‘‘without delay’’ from cities in the West Bank it ha...

US President George W. Bush called on Israel to withdraw its forces ‘‘without delay’’ from cities in the West Bank it has recently has occupied in a military offensive across the Palestinian-controlled area.

Speaking during a joint news conference at his Texas ranch with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush said: ‘‘We agree that the Palestinian leadership must order an immediate and effective ceasefire and crack down on terrorist networks.’’

The Israel Army said at least 14 Palestinians and sevenIsraeli soldiers had been killed in the last 48 hours in Jenin in what a spokesman called “very intense fighting”.

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Meanwhile, warriors from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an offshoot of President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organisation, wait for an Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, even as heavy fighting erupted in the northern West Bank on Saturday.

‘‘We are expecting the Israelis to come after us with everything this time — their tanks, their airplanes, their gunboats,’’ said one of the leader. Like the Al Aqsa gunmen, many of the 1.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are girding for an attack after watching Israel’s military offensive in Ramallah and other West Bank cities in retaliation for a string of suicide bombings.

Arab Foreign Ministers were gathering in Cairo for an emergency meeting to discuss the conflict. A stand-off between Israeli soldiers surrounding Church of Nativity and armed Palestinians inside entered its fifth day.

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