DATE=04/26/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (S-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-289150

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

/// EDS: UPDATES CR 2-289138 WITH A NEW LEAD REPORTING ISRAELI PULLOUT FROM QALQILYAH. ///

INTRO: The Israeli military says its forces have withdrawan from the Palestinian town of Qalqilyah. A local militant leader had been killed by Israeli forces after they entered the West Bank town. Correspondent Meredith Buel has details from Jerusalem.

TEXT: During a military raid in the West Bank town of Qalqilya, Israeli troops killed Raed Nazal, the local leader of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (P-F-L-P).

Dozens of Palestinians were arrested during the raid on Qalqilya and in Palestinian villages in the surrounding area.

Soldiers launched house-to-house searches and declared curfews.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer says the military had "no choice but to launch these incursions" to prevent terrorist attacks.

In the West Bank city of Bethlehem Israeli snipers wounded two Palestinians hiding in the Church of the Nativity who were then captured and evacuated for medical treatment.

Four other Palestinian men surrendered to Israeli troops.

About 200 people in the church, including Palestinian gunmen, have been surrounded by Israeli troops and tanks for more than three weeks.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of activists protesting the military siege around Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters. (Signed)

NEB/MB/KL