DATE=06/01/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS (S)

NUMBER=2-290407

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The Israeli military is continuing to stage raids into Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank, arresting militants allegedly responsible for suicide bombings and shooting attacks. As correspondent Meredith Buel reports from Jerusalem, at least one Palestinian was killed during today's (Saturday's) military operation.

TEXT: Israeli forces continued their sweep through Palestinian-ruled areas in the West Bank, in what the army calls pinpoint operations for weapons, explosives and militants.

In Nablus, Palestinian witnesses say, an Israeli sniper killed one man during the raid. An army spokeswoman says there were several exchanges of fire between soldiers and Palestinian gunmen.

Troops conducted house-to-house searches, and rounded up hundreds of Palestinian men for questioning. Most were released.

The Israeli army says about 50 Palestinians were arrested in Nablus, the adjacent Balata refugee camp and the nearby village of Tamoun.

The army says it found an explosives lab during searches in Nablus. A curfew has been clamped on the city and the Balata camp.

Earlier, Israeli soldiers arrested one suspected Palestinian militant in the Dheisheh refugee camp next to Bethlehem.

The director of the U-S Central Intelligence Agency (C-I-A), George Tenet, is expected to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders early next week in an effort to re-establish counter-terrorism cooperation. (Signed)

NEB/MB/ALW/TW