DATE=05/03/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS (S-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-289408

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

/// EDS: UPDATES 2-289387 ///

INTRO: Two Palestinians and an Israeli soldier are dead, after Israeli troops launched a raid on the West Bank city of Nablus. Correspondent Meredith Buel has details from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Israeli forces thrust deep into Nablus, storming the hideout of a group of Palestinian militants suspected of planning a suicide bombing in Israel.

A Palestinian policeman, a member of the militant group Hamas and an Israeli army officer were killed during the raid.

The Israeli army says soldiers found and destroyed two bomb-making laboratories and a car full of explosives.

The military operation lasted about five hours, before troops withdrew from the city.

In Bethlehem, talks to end the siege at the Church of the Nativity have failed to produce an agreement.

Four Palestinian policemen, described as weak and sick from lack of food, emerged from the church.

Up to 200 people, including Palestinian gunmen, Christian clerics and civilians, have been hiding in the shrine for more than a month.

Israel is insisting the armed men be put on trial in the Jewish state or be forced into exile.

The Palestinians have proposed sending them to the Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops are surrounding the church, which is built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born. (Signed)

NEB/MB/TW