Israeli troops raid city despite new Bush plea

JERUSALEM A day after President George W. Bush declared that Israel should be "finished" with its military operations in Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank, Israeli troops swept through the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Friday and Israeli snipers shot and wounded two Palestinians inside the besieged Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

After the Israeli action, Bush repeated his insistence that the Israelis withdraw. "It's time to end this," he said from his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Backed by armored vehicles, the Israeli infantry moved into Qalqilya late Thursday night. By late Friday, they had arrested 16 Palestinians, confiscated explosives and killed the local head of an armed Palestinian group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in a shoot-out, an Israeli Army spokeswoman said.

In addition, 26 Palestinians were arrested in villages near Qalqilya.