Mideast - AFP
12 Palestinians arrested after gun battle at Bethlehem hospital
Date: Thu Apr 1, 7:01 AM ET
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AFP) - An hour-long gun battle raged at a psychiatric hospital in the West Bank town of Bethlehem before Israeli forces arrested 12 Palestinians, sources on both sides said.
Eight of the 12 were members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a radical offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s Fatah (news - web sites) movement, Palestinian security sources said.
Among those detained was the Brigades commander for the region, Jamal Hamamrha, who is suspected of involvement in a suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem on January 29 in which 10 people were killed, as well as the bomber.
The other four were members of the hospital's staff, they added.
A military source said that the 12 were all wanted for their suspected involvement in preparing attacks in Israel. They had taken refuge in the hospital's administrative wing, he added.
Witnesses said that around a dozen military vehicles had surrounded the hospital at the start of the operation.
The Israeli source said that troops had first urged the men to surrender but they responded by opening fire.
The exchanges lasted for around an hour before the group gave themselves up, he added. There were no injuries.
"Thanks to our operation, we have averted large-scale attacks that this group was preparing," said the commander of the unit which carried out the arrest operation, identified as Colonel Nadav.
"They came out when they realised that there was no escape. They left their weapons and ammunition in the hospital," Nadav told army radio.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said that four members of another radical faction, Islamic Jihad, were arrested by Israeli troops near the northern West Bank town of Jenin.
The four were detained in a house in Kafr Rai, southwest of Jenin, after around 20 jeeps entered the village at daybreak. Gunfire was heard but there were no reports of injuries.
An Israeli source said that "three operatives were arrested" without specifying if they belonged to any faction. Two anti-tank missiles were also recovered, she added.
SOURCE
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.