21.  Arafat, meanwhile, remains confined by Israeli forces to the West Bank town of Ramallah, as he has been for weeks.

22.  Arab officials fear that Arafat will be harmed or expelled from the West Bank as a final act by Sharon when he orders the withdrawal of Israeli military forces.

23.  Arafat, in turn, will likely ask Powell to help get peace talks started again and to condemn the heavy Israeli force used in the fighting.

24.  Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, came under growing international pressure Sunday to withdraw Israeli forces.

25.  Arafat has demanded, as a condition for talking with Israel about a cease-fire, that all Israeli forces withdraw from Palestinian-controlled areas.

26.  Arafat is now free to travel for the first time since early December, when Israeli forces penned him into Ramallah.

27.  As Israeli forces pursued militants, civilians continued getting in the way and dying as a result.

28.  As Israeli forces pushed deeper into the West Bank, Palestinian militants were reportedly killing Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel.

29.  As Israeli forces slipped into this village under cover of darkness early Wednesday, some Palestinian defenders were sleeping on cots under the olive trees.

30.  As word of the killings spread through the West Bank Fridayclashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces erupted.