UPDATE: Latest Reuters Feed From Ramallah 17:35GMT
by Associated Press • Saturday March 30, 2002 at 08:51 AM


DJ Israeli Troops Round Up Hundreds, But Deny Any Detentions

DJ Israeli Troops Round Up Hundreds, But Deny Any Detentions



RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)--Tightening their hold on the Palestinian town of
Ramallah, Israeli troops rounded up hundreds of men Saturday, enforced a strict
curfew, traded fire with roaming gunmen and kept Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat confined to his three-story office building.
The Israeli army denied reports it was carrying out mass detentions.
Arafat was without electricity and water. His aides also said food and medical
supplies were running low.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said the five armed Palestinians found dead
Saturday were killed in a close-range firefight Friday with Israeli forces. The
bodies, some in police uniform, were found on the third floor of a six-story
building.
The army said two soldiers were wounded in the clash.
At Arafat's compound, a security guard wounded earlier in fighting with
Israeli forces died of his injuries. The deaths brought to 11 the number of
Palestinians killed in Israel's two-day incursion into Ramallah. Two Israeli
soldiers also have been killed.
A second front opened Saturday along the Israeli-Lebanese border, with Shiite
Muslim Hezbollah guerrillas firing rockets and mortar shells at Israeli outposts
in a disputed border area. In response, Israeli warplanes attacked suspected
Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon. The army also said that 2,000 skiers were
evacuated from a resort on nearby Mount Hermon.

MST/R/SA MST/R/US