Israeli troops, Palestinians in standoff at Hebron
June 26, 2002 Posted: 1:36 PM EDT (1736 GMT)


An Israeli soldier tries to put out a fire in front of the Palestinian security headquarters in Hebron on Wednesday. 
HEBRON, West Bank  -- Israeli soldiers and Palestinians holed up in the Palestinian security headquarters in Hebron, West Bank, were involved in a tense standoff Wednesday. 

In other developments, Palestinian sources said Israeli soldiers had arrested a Hamas militant, Nizar Ramadan, at Hebron. And the Israeli army was checking a report that a small boy had been killed by Israeli troops on patrol in the Jenin refugee camp. 

Palestinian security sources said one of eight Palestinians trapped inside the building had come out and surrendered to Israeli soldiers. The sources said the other seven remained inside the building. 

The Israel Defense Forces said no one had surrendered. The IDF said the men were wanted activists in the Fatah militias. 

Fatah is the mainstream faction and Palestinian nationalist movement of the Palestine Liberation Organization. It is dedicated to the formation of an independent Palestinian state. 

Palestinian sources said that the Israelis had brought the families of the men to the building in the hope the men could be persuaded to give up and that the incident began when Israeli troops opened fire on the building with machine guns. 

The IDF said its soldiers responded to gunfire and sporadic fire was still coming from the building. 

Israeli troops seized control of Hebron on Tuesday and imposed a curfew on the city. Hebron is the seventh West Bank city now under Israeli control. 

Israel increased its military presence in the West Bank last week after terror attacks -- two suicide bombings and an attack on a family in their home -- that left 31 Israelis dead. 

At the Jenin camp, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said a small boy was shot and killed by Israeli troops. The agency, which runs an ambulance service in the area, said the boy's father also was injured. 

There were conflicting reports about the child's age. The Red Crescent said he was 7, but Palestinian security sources said he was 6. 

Palestinian security sources said the incident occurred when two Israeli jeeps and two tanks went into the camp and imposed a curfew. 

When a group of children started throwing stones at them, said the security sources, the Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing the boy and moderately wounding another. 

Israeli military sources said while an investigation is continuing it appeared the Israeli soldiers encountered a group that moved toward them. The soldiers warned the group a number of times not to approach, the sources said, and used "methods" to disperse them when they did not respond to the warnings.