Tuesday April 17 4:36 PM ET
U.S. Intervenes, Israel Starts Withdrawal

By Jonathan Wright

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States intervened diplomatically to stop Middle East violence on Tuesday, and Israel announced it was withdrawing its forces from Palestinian-run parts of Gaza.

Hours after Washington called on Israel to pull its troops back to the positions they had held on Monday, the Israeli army said its forces were returning from the parts of Gaza it had reoccupied.

A U.S. official declined to comment, saying Washington wanted ``to give things time to work themselves out''.

Israel did not say it say it was answering the U.S. appeal but Dore Gold, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told CNN: ``We pay very close attention to what is said in Washington. It is very important to us.''

Secretary of State Colin Powell made the appeal in a strongly worded statement that criticized both sides and asked Palestinian leaders to prevent and punish attacks on Israelis.

Speaking out for the first time on the last four days of Middle East violence, Powell said the United States was ``deeply concerned'' that the fighting could escalate and lead to a broader conflict in the region.

Powell blamed the Palestinians for provoking the violence in the Gaza area with a mortar attack on Israel on Monday but said the Israeli response, which included attacks from the air and the sea, was ``excessive and disproportionate.''

No Military Solution

``We call upon both sides to respect the agreements they've signed. For the Palestinians, this includes implementing their commitment to renounce terrorism and violence, to exercise control over all elements of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, and to discipline violators,'' Powell said.

``For the Israelis, this includes respecting their commitment to withdraw from Gaza according to the terms of the agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinians. There can be no military solution to this conflict,'' he added.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, asked how quickly the Israelis should pull back, said: ``I've outlined today for you a series of steps that the different parties should be taking and, we think, should take immediately.''

``The Israelis should get out now. They made an agreement to withdraw and they should not reoccupy,'' added a senior State Department official, who asked not to be named.

About two hours later, the Palestinian official said the Israeli army had started to pull out. Another Palestinian official said Israel had informed the Palestinian Authority it was withdrawing from the territory it seized late on Monday.

``We always said that it will happen when the military operation ends,'' added Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon.

Powell offered U.S. assistance to help Israel and the Palestinians resume security cooperation talks but Boucher said U.S. diplomats had not proposed any specific meetings.

The U.S. statement, like remarks on the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah on Monday, firmly laid blame on the Arab side for provoking the Israelis into retaliation.

Security Cooperation Talks

Hizbollah attacked an Israeli tank in a disputed area near the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel on Saturday. Israel responded by destroying a Syrian radar position east of Beirut, on the grounds that Syria can restrain Hizbollah.

``The hostilities ... in Gaza were precipitated by the provocative Palestinian mortar attacks on Israel. The Israeli response was excessive and disproportionate,'' said Powell.

``We continue to strongly believe that the resumption of bilateral security cooperation is essential to reduce and eventually end the violence. We are continuing to work with the parties so that they can resume as soon as possible the security discussions they began two weeks ago.''

The CIA helped organize one session of security cooperation talks between Israelis and Palestinians early this month but the meeting did little to reduce tensions.

The new administration of President Bush, in office for almost three months, has been reluctant to take up the active role the previous Clinton administration played in Middle East peace talks.

The main proposals now under discussions are those prepared by Egypt and Jordan and put to Israel by Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdulilah al-Khatib on Monday.

Boucher said the United States welcomed the ``constructive role'' played by Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab states with peace treaties with Israel, but he declined to comment on the details of their peace plan.

-----