The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has called for the world body to send an urgent fact-finding mission to the West Bank and Gaza Strip to report back on human rights violations by Israeli and Palestinian forces.
Speaking at the annual meeting in Geneva of the Human Rights Commission, she also repeated an appeal for international monitors to be deployed.
This evening, Israel has said that Hizbollah guerrillas are massing on its northern border and has warned Syria and Lebanon of "very serious" consequences if they do not withdraw. The warning comes after Hizbollah guerrillas fired mortar rounds on Israeli positions in a disputed zone between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.
Twelve Israeli tanks are meanwhile reported to have pushed into the northern West Bank town of Jenin. It was not immediately clear if the thrust was the prelude to a full-scale incursion into Jenin, where according to Palestinian security about 150 tanks and armoured vehicles had gathered on the outskirts.
Earlier, amid continued fighting in Bethlehem, seven nuns were wounded when Israeli soldiers opened fire on two churches. However, a report that an Italian priest was killed has been denied by his religious order, which said that he was alive and well.
The United States has meanwhile decided to allow the families of US diplomats in Jerusalem to leave Israel at government expense amid increased security fears raised by the continuing violence.
Overnight, Israeli troops further widened their campaign in the territory by occupying the centre of the city of Bethlehem and declaring it a closed military zone. Earlier, troops raided a refugee camp on the outskirts of the town, where three Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel had been executed at a Palestinian police post.
This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat would only be allowed to leave his besieged headquarters on a “one-way ticket”. Sharon said he had told concerned world leaders that they could send a helicopter to take him from his compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Palestinians said that there was no chance Mr Arafat would accept this. He has sworn to "die a martyr" rather than give in to Israel. The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, also rejected the suggestion.
Mr Sharon was reacting to the widespread international condemnation of Israel’s attacks on the headquarters of the Palestinian security service in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The Israelis claim dozens of militants suspected of anti-Israeli attacks are sheltering in the building, but this is denied by the Palestinians.
The French Prime Minister said that Israeli policy towards the Palestinians had to change. Lionel Jospin urged the United States to do more to resolve the Middle East conflict. Britain's Foreign Secretary urged Israeli troops to withdraw from Ramallah. Jack Straw said that military action would not solve the region's troubles.
Meanwhile European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said today that it might be time for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to give way to a new generation of leaders. Solana, speaking on Spanish radio, also said he believed Israel's military re-occupation of Palestinian cities would make the situation worse, and should be reversed.
"Sharon and Arafat have lived through this conflict for too long. I do not wish them any harm, but it would not appear bad to me if they allowed other people to lead this conflict," Solana said.
