Israeli forces fire missiles into Jenin camp

Smoke rises from Jenin on the West Bank on Sunday.

JENIN, West Bank (CNN) -- Israeli forces have launched a missile strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, home to around 15,000 people.

Israeli helicopter gunships fired at least 19 missiles into the camp, which covers less than two square kilometers, Palestinian sources said.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian policeman was shot dead by an Israeli sniper as he tried to extinguish a fire in the parish of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, according to Father Amgad Sabbara, a priest inside the compound.

Israel says the Palestinians are armed, but Sabbara and another religious aid worker inside the church say they are seeking refuge from the Israeli military operation in Bethlehem.

Israeli security sources said it opened fire so that two soldiers, wounded by hand grenades and shots fired from the church, could be safely evacuated.

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More than 200 Palestinians and about 60 religious workers have been holed up in the church since March 29.

At the Jenin refugee camp, Israeli forces used loudspeakers to call on residents to evacuate, saying they were preparing to strike the camp.

Some residents refused to leave and were evacuated by force, but a majority were still in the camp when the strike began, according to residents who spoke to CNN.

There was no immediate word on casualties. However, CNN's Rula Amin reported from outside Jenin that Palestinians said the Israel Defense Force was punching through walls and conducting house-to-house searches.

Palestinian sources said men who were evacuated were separated from the women and children and removed to an unknown place.

The Israeli military sources had no comment on the missile strike.

Israeli searches in the camp turned up explosives labs, Qassam rockets, an unexploded car bomb and mortar shells, according to the IDF.

Fighting in Jenin began late last week, but casualty numbers have been difficult to verify because journalists and ambulances have been kept out of the camp.

The latest attack comes after Israeli officials said they expected to complete their offensive in Jenin and Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank, within days under heavy U.S. and international pressure for a withdrawal.

Israeli troops have taken control of six Palestinian towns in the West Bank since the offensive began March 29.

President Bush on Saturday called for an Israeli pullout "without delay" and delivered the message personally in a phone call to Sharon.

In response, Sharon issued a statement that said Israel was conscious of the U.S. desire for it to wrap up the offensive "as expeditiously as possible," but in a speech to the Israeli parliament on Monday, Sharon said the operations would continue until terrorist infrastructure was destroyed and gave no timetable for withdrawal.

The IDF says 12 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 143 have been wounded since the West Bank offensive began March 29.

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz said about 200 Palestinians have died and 1,500 have been wounded in the last 10 days.

Hassan Abdel Rahman, the Palestinian representative to the United States, put the Palestinian death toll at 250 and said many were women and children.