Sharon Says 'This Stage' Is Over as Israel Leaves Two Cities
With tanks still encircling Arafat in his battered headquarters in once-thriving Ramallah, and nearby residential streets blocked off by Israeli barriers of earth and wrecked cars, people in the city had little to smile about.

``They left from the door and they will come back through the window,'' 85-year-old shopkeeper Hassan Abu Darwish said.

The scale of devastation, especially in the Jenin refugee camp, has provoked ferocious criticism from abroad and an exchange of accusations between Israel and the Palestinians.

The European Union's External Relations Commissioner, Chris Patten, accused Israel of ``hijacking'' the U.S.-led war on terror and said in a BBC interview that its crushing use of force against Palestinians would prove counter-productive.

Political sources said Israel was considering blackballing U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen for what it sees as his pro-Palestinian bias over events in Jenin, described by the Israeli army as a terrorist bastion.

Thursday, Larsen accused the army of using ``morally repugnant'' means in its assault on the camp.Larsen, a Norwegian who helped broker Israeli-Palestinian interim peace deals, later said his comments did not mean he was accusing Israel of committing a massacre, as Palestinian officials have alleged.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-mideast.html