NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli forces pounded the West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin Sunday and
 battled gunmen in alleyways, defying U.S. calls to end an offensive which has sent the Palestinian death toll soaring.

 The Israeli government hailed its West Bank campaign to root out Palestinian militants as a success, but a cabinet
statement pointedly ignored Bush's pressure to withdraw the troops from Palestinian cities without delay.

 Israel is widely expected to continue its 10-day-old offensive until Colin Powell visits the region later this week.
 Palestinians fear this means the army will intensify its assaults over the next few days.

 The army, which has also suffered mounting casualties, said it had killed more than 30 armed Palestinians in close
 combat since Friday in Nablus, where it has met dogged resistance from gunmen who erected barricades and
 planted makeshift mines.

"There are constant battles -- fighting in alleyways, from house to house," Colonel Aviv Cochavi,
 commander of Israel's Paratroop Brigade, told Reuters by telephone.

"More than 30 terrorists -- armed people -- have been killed in the past 48 hours," he said about the fighting
 in the narrow casbah, or market, of the northern West Bank city. "Two Israeli soldiers were wounded."

 White smoke hung in the air above Nablus after the attacks by tanks and helicopter gunships.
 Many buildings have been charred in some of the heaviest fighting since Palestinians rose up against
 Israeli occupation more than 18 months ago.

 Israeli forces also fired missiles and tank shells at Jenin in a military campaign which it says is intended to halt
 a wave of attacks on Israelis launched from cities branded by Israel as "breeding grounds for terrorism."

 Palestinians say the offensive, in which Yasser Arafat has been surrounded in his West Bank headquarters,
 is designed to permanently reoccupy their cities and topple his Palestinian Authority.

 The onslaught has caused uproar abroad. Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique, whose country holds
 the European Union's presidency, said the 15-member group would consider imposing sanctions on
 Israel if it kept rejecting cease-fire calls.

 DANGER OF SECOND FRONT

 Israel faced new violence near the northern border. Hizbollah guerrillas attacked Israeli troops occupying the
 foothills of the Golan Heights and Israel responded by firing artillery and rockets at positions in south Lebanon.

 The Israeli government has expressed concern such clashes could open a new war front.

 The cabinet gave a positive assessment of the West Bank offensive against the Palestinians,
 although the army had "suffered not a few losses."

 "The prime minister pointed out that a difficult campaign is under way, and that much has been achieved," it said.

 Sharon said at the start of the cabinet meeting that the offensive could not be hurried because Israel was trying
 to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties.   The army's spokesman, Brigadier-General Ron Kitrey, said the military
 had received no orders to change its battle plan.  Sharon's office said he had told Bush by telephone only that
 Israel would make "every effort to accelerate" the operation.

 In the US, Condoleezza Rice said there was no mistaking the president's message to Sharon during the telephone call.

 "While he does expect Israel to begin the withdrawal without delay, he understands that it can't be helter-skelter and
 chaotic. But he does expect this withdrawal to begin," she told CNN's "Late Edition."

 Israeli commentators forecast the offensive, which has turned Palestinian city centers into war zones and confined
 hundreds of thousands of frightened residents to their homes, will go on for at least another week.  Opinion polls
 show the campaign has boosted Sharon's support. But Sharon is aware of the dangers of testing the patience of
 an ally which provides about $3 billion in annual aid, equal to three percent of its gross domestic product. Fighting has
 intensified since Bush made his call for a withdrawal last Thursday and the Palestinians were unhappy that Powell
 looked unlikely to arrive until late this week.

 "It is regrettable that Secretary of State Colin Powell has delayed his arrival in Palestine until next Friday, which will be
 used by Sharon to pursue his military plan," the official WAFA news agency quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying.
 It repeated accusations of "slaughters and massacres" in Palestinian cities and refugee camps. Israel has dismissed the
 charges.

  BATTLES RAGE

 Palestinians have charged that innocent civilians have been bearing the brunt of the assault which began after a Palestinian
 suicide bomber struck in an Israeli hotel during a Passover holiday meal on March 27, killing 27 people.
 Palestinian figures put the number of Palestinian dead in Nablus at 27. The army said at least 14 Palestinians and seven
 Israeli soldiers had been killed in the past 48 hours in Jenin, a stronghold of Palestinian militants.

 An armed Palestinian told Reuters he had counted 30 dead bodies in the Jenin refugee camp.
 In south Gaza, soldiers killed two Palestinians who tried to plant explosives near a Jewish settlement, Morag, the army said.
 Israeli forces in the West Bank raided two villages near Ramallah and a village outside Hebron. The army said that since
 March 28 it had detained 1,413 Palestinians, among them 361 on its wanted list.

 At least 1,214 Palestinians and 420 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000