Palestinian gunmen trapped 14 Israeli soldiers at a school in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank on Thursday during fierce fighting following an Israeli raid, one of the gunmen said. The man, contacted by mobile telephone at the camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, said the fighters had the troops surrounded.
"We're surrounding them in the school and we have refused all appeals by the Palestinian Authority to release them," the gunman, who asked not to be identified by name, said.
Other sources at the camp said the troops were under siege at a United Nations-run secondary school. An Israeli Apache helicopter had fired on the fighters blocking them, wounding one gunman, the source said.
The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the stand-off. Bureau Report