The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem where 100 Palestinians have taken refuge is still besieged by Israeli soldiers as more Israeli forces tonight moved into Nablus, the largest town on the West Bank.
On this the sixth day Israel's Operation Defensive Shield - which it says is a response to repeated suicide bombings - seven Palestinian autonomous towns in the West Bank have been reoccupied including Ramallah where Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters are located.
Three Palestinian gunmen and at least four non-combatants are reported to have been killed in Bethlehem today.
In Nablus, the intelligence chief Mr Talal Diwikat said Israeli armour was pouring into the city from all points of the compass.
"They have entered ... from all directions, a huge number of military vehicles," he said.
Condemning the Israeli reoccupation, Egypt today said it is suspending all contacts with the Israeli government except for diplomatic channels which serve the Palestinian cause.
An Israeli official dismissed the move as a symbolic gesture.
In another development, Israeli fighter jets attacked suspected militant group Hezbollah hideouts in southern Lebanon.
This followed reports from southern Lebanon that Hezbollah has for a second day fired anti-tank missiles and mortars at Israeli army posts in a disputed border zone.
The Israeli army responded with automatic rifle, tank and artillery fire.
The Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon warned Hezbollah and Syria, which Israel says controls the guerrillas, that they are "not immune" from Israeli retaliation.
The UN and the European Union were this evening conducting separate meetings to discuss the crisis.
In Ramallah where Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters are besieged by Israeli forces more than 2,000 activists attempting to carry humanitarian supplies to the West Bank had tear gas fired at them by Israeli police.
Mr Sharon came under pressure from the EU today with the European Commissioner Mr Chris Patten calling from Israeli troops to withdraw from Palestinian territory.
Israel says its military campaign in the West Bank is aimed at isolating Mr Arafat and "uprooting terrorists" behind suicide attacks that have killed dozens of Israelis.
Israel has been hit by at seven suicide bombings or attempted suicide attacks since the Jewish Passover holiday began a week ago.
But the Palestinians say Israel intends to reoccupy parts of the West Bank that were handed over to the Palestinians under accords reached in the 1990s, and that the aim is to topple Mr Arafat and his Palestinian Authority. A claim Israel denies.
Meanwhile European Commission President Mr Romano Prodi today called for an international conference on the Middle East to be attend by the United States, the European Union, moderate Arab countries, Russia, Israel and the Palestinians.
AFP, PA and