Residents protest against militants

President Bush spoke today with the new Palestinian prime minister.
BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Hundreds of residents of Beit Hanoun burned tires and blocked the main road today in a rare burst of anger at militants who have prompted Israeli incursions by firing rockets from the town at Israeli targets.
Israeli troops withdrew from Beit Hanoun earlier today, after a five-day takeover during which they flattened orchards, demolished 15 homes, knocked over garden walls, tore up streets and damaged the sewage, water and electricity systems.
The Israeli military said much of the destruction, especially of homes and orchards, was aimed at depriving cover for militants firing rockets.
In an unusual protest, about 600 Beit Hanoun residents blocked a main thoroughfare with trash cans, rocks and burning tires to show their anger at the militants and Palestinian Authority officials.
"They [the militants] claim they are heroes," said Mohammed Zaaneen, 30, a farmer, as he carried rocks into the street. "They brought us only destruction and made us homeless. They used our farms, our houses and our children ... to hide."
The Israeli pullback came despite five suicide bombings that killed 12 Israelis in 48 hours and endangered a U.S.-backed Mideast peace initiative. The move suggested that Israel is holding off on large-scale retaliation for now, amid international concern that new strikes would further weaken the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas.
First discussion
President Bush called Abbas today to underscore the need for both Palestinians and Israelis to fight terror and resume peace negotiations, the White House said. It was their first conversation since Abbas took office April 30.
The two leaders talked by phone for 15 minutes. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Abbas told Bush he was committed to the U.S.-brokered peace plan.
"The president stressed the need for all parties to take concrete steps," Fleischer said.
Fleischer described the phone conversation as "friendly and hopeful." He said that while the two did not talk specifics, the president reiterated his commitment to the security of Israel and his vision for two states living side by side.
Abbas is seen as instrumental in implementing the "road map" to peace plan, a three-stage prescription for ending violence and setting up a Palestinian state by 2005. However, Abbas has said he will not launch a crackdown on militias -- a crucial step in the first phase -- until Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accepts the plan.
Sharon has refused to do so, saying he wants to discuss his objections with Bush. A Bush-Sharon meeting had been scheduled for today, but Sharon postponed his Washington trip indefinitely because of the bombings.
Israeli efforts
During the Israeli takeover, eight Palestinians were killed in clashes -- four gunmen and four teens, ages 13, 15 and 17. Three of the teens had been throwing stones at Israeli tanks when they were shot by troops.
Israeli troops have raided Beit Hanoun seven times in the past 32 months of fighting in an effort to stop the firing of homemade Qassam rockets from Beit Hanoun at Israeli border towns.
The Israeli-Palestinian deadlock has left the field to the militants who are trying to torpedo the peace efforts and weaken Abbas. In the past, the Islamic militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have stepped up attacks whenever there was increased hope of progress toward peace.
An Islamic Jihad leader in the West Bank said militants needed no special incentive to carry out attacks. "It's all-out war," said the leader, Sheik Bassam Sadi. "We will only stop if we feel our people are getting tired."
In the latest bombing, a Palestinian woman, 19-year-old Hiba Daraghmeh, blew herself up at a back entrance of a shopping mall in the northern Israeli town of Afula on Monday. Daraghmeh detonated the explosives as she approached security guards checking shoppers.
"There was a big explosion, and my friend and I were blown over backward," said Etti Pitilon, 19, a border policewoman. "I saw bodies, but I don't want to think about it," she added, crying.
The blast killed three Israelis, including a guard, and wounded 47.
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