After Weighing Options, Sharon Bows to Pressure
After a week when Israel ended its 39-day siege of Bethlehem, but suffered another suicide bombing costing 15 Israeli lives, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has bowed to military advice and diplomatic pressure and put on hold a major offensive into the Gaza Strip.
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Israeli troops remain massed outside Gaza, ready to retaliate against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Palestinians are girding to fight them. But Mr. Sharon has missed his opportunity for a serious sweep through Gaza, hemmed in himself by domestic politics and a fragile new commitment from Washington to press for peace.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/12/international/middleeast/12CND-ASSE.html