Israeli troops seize West Bank city

Israeli troops backed by tanks retook all of Hebron today – blindfolding Palestinian suspects and herding them into army buses – after gunmen lured security forces into a dead-end alley and killed 12 with a barrage of bullets and grenades.

Fourteen Israelis were wounded in last night’s assault on troops who had escorted worshippers after Sabbath prayers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a shrine in downtown Hebron revered by Muslims and Jews.

In other violence, two Palestinians were killed today by army fire in the West Bank, including a woman shot dead while looking out of her window.

Friday’s killings marked one of the highest death tolls suffered by Israeli forces in a single encounter since the Mideast violence erupted more than two years ago. Among the dead was the Hebron brigade commander, a colonel – the highest-ranking officer to be killed since September 2000.

The soldiers were attacked with gunfire and grenades after being lured into a dead-end alley in a carefully orchestrated ambush by the militant Islamic Jihad group.

Bystander Arik Mariner, who tried to help rescue the wounded, said soldiers were pinned down by massive fire from all directions.

“It took a long time (to evacuate the wounded),” Mariner told Israel TV’s Channel Two. “The wounded were screaming, ‘save us’ and I saw things – I don’t want to shock people – soldiers without hands, without legs, things that break the heart.”

The attack – coming just five days after five Israelis were killed in an attack on a communal farm – increased pressure on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to retaliate harshly.

In a first step, “the army intends to return to its previous deployment in the city, that is, to be in all parts of the city,” said the commander of forces in the West Bank, Major General Moshe Kaplinski.

Tanks rumbled into the Palestinian-run sector of Hebron today, and troops reinforcements were deployed through the city of 130,000 Palestinians. Troops herded blindfolded Palestinians into two army buses, witnesses said. The military said 41 Palestinians were rounded up in Hebron.

In Washington, US State Department spokesman Frederick Jones said the Bush administration condemns “in the strongest terms this reprehensible and heinous act of terrorism”. While expressing understanding for Israel’s need “to take legitimate anti-terrorist action,” Jones said Israeli troops must prevent further civilian casualties.

An army commander, Colonel Noam Tibon, said there was concern that Jewish settlers from Hebron and the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba would go on a rampage once the Sabbath ended.

“This is a huge problem. We will do whatever we can to bring law and order,” Tibon said.

Settlers in Hebron and Kiryat Arba have a history of vigilante action against Palestinians, and Tibon met with settler leaders to urge restraint. However, settlers refused to call off a protest rally that was to take place at the site of the ambush after sunset.