Twenty-five Palestinians were killed yesterday in one of the bloodiest days since Israel began a military offensive in the West Bank, despite US President George W. Bush's call for Israeli forces to withdraw.
Any faint hopes raised by Mr Bush's demand and a meeting between US envoy Anthony Zinni and besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last night were dashed by the heavy death toll in Palestinian cities and refugee camps on the West Bank.
Mr Bush was joined at his ranch in Texas yesterday by British Prime Minster Tony Blair for a weekend summit where the Israeli-Palestinian crisis will top the agenda.
And in a hardening of the US stance toward Israel, Secretary of State Colin Powell told Israel it should withdraw military forces from Palestinian areas "without delay" and not use the days before his trip to the region this weekend as a reason to continue incursions.
Israel says the eight-day-old offensive is aimed at rooting out people suspected of planning and carrying out a series of suicide bombings which have claimed scores of Israeli lives.
The operation first met with US understanding for Israeli defense needs. But the situation changed dramatically on Thursday night when Mr Bush declared "enough is enough" and called on Israel to withdraw its forces from Palestinian cities.
Some commentators in Israel believe Israeli forces will now step up the pace of their operation to try to achieve their goals in the next few days - rather than the month originally envisaged - before growing world pressure forces a halt.
However, the White House stopped short yesterday of criticizing Israel for not already pulling back. Spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters in Texas: "The president recognizes that in a region that's been marred by violence for decades, major events don't necessarily happen overnight."
The White House also said Mr Powell had no plans "at this moment" to meet Mr Arafat, who Washington has accused of not doing enough to prevent attacks on Israel.