1.   Meanwhile, Israeli forces maintained positions they took early Wednesday around the Palestinian village of Beit Jalla, amid reports that a punitive operation was postponed, not canceled.

2.   A man was shot and wounded late Sunday at Bangor, northeast of here, in an apparent punitive operation by paramilitaries, police said.

3.   Pakistani authorities launched a punitive military operation Sunday in a tribal area where a kidnapped senior income tax official was allegedly murdered, witnesses said.

4.   The Israeli press on Tuesday called for a severe response against Hezbollah and indicated that a punitive operation of some kind was in the works.