DATE=10/21/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (S)

NUMBER=2-308908

BYLINE=ROSS DUNN

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Israeli forces raided the West Bank city where Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is based on Tuesday.

The soldiers encircled the main mosque in Ramallah in a search for members of the militant Islamic group Hamas.

Ross Dunn reports from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Israeli troops surrounded the Abdel Nasser mosque in the center of Ramallah on Tuesday, after imposing a military curfew on the city.

The soldiers fired warning shots and threw stun grenades to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing Palestinians angered by the incursion.

Israeli military officials said the mosque is being used by members of Hamas, an organization that carries out suicide bombings and other terror attacks.

The raid came hours after Palestinian President Yasser Arafat called on the international community to demand that Israel stop its military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat called Israel's actions in Ramallah a "dangerous escalation." (SIGNED)

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