RAMALLAH, West Bank?Israeli forces clamped down harder on the West Bank, as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to widen his military offensive against Palestinian extremists to the Gaza Strip, where a helicopter strike killed four Hamas members earlier this week.

The latest turbulence?the third Israeli encirclement this month of Yasser Arafat’s Ramallah headquarters?came as President Bush delivered an eagerly awaited Mideast policy address.

Bush offered guidelines for a future Palestinian state in a speech Monday that was postponed last week because of escalating violence. Three major Palestinian attacks left more than 30 Israeli civilians dead, and prompted a new invasion of the West Bank.

Arafat issued a statement welcoming Bush’s speech as a “serious effort to push the peace process forward.” But the statement ignored Bush’s calls for new Palestinian leadership.-