Israeli troops blew up on Saturday the Palestinian Authority police headquarters in Hebron where the army said about 15 Palestinians had been hiding and had refused to surrender. The soldiers left only rubble and apparently endied their 4-day-old standoff, nearby residents said.
"The (army) operated in the Palestinians' security compound and detonated in a controlled manner a part of the building where wanted Palestinians were taking refuge and refused to turn themselves in," the army said in a statement early on Saturday.
It was not clear if anyone died in the blast but Israeli Army Radio said it was likely the Palestinians were dead under the rubble after military engineers detonated two tons of explosives to destroy the structure.
israeli military sources said the army had not found any remains in an initial search of the rubble, which included a collapsed antenna tower, satellite dishes and mangled cars.
Witnesses said the building had caught fire after the powerful blast, while shots could be heard and helicopters buzzed overhead.
"This destruction, without taking into consideration that there might be injured people inside that compound...shows the brutality of the occupation," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said.
In other incidents, Israeli troops arrested 35 Palestinian men in separate sweeps in the West Bank, while two children were lightly wounded as soldiers opened fire on stone-throwers, Palestinian witnesses and security sources said.
In Gaza Strip, a Palestinian woman was killed by Israeli gunfire near the refugee camp of Deir Balah and the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, Palestinian security sources said.
Amina al-Loh, 31, "bled to death" after being shot, while her husband, Ibrahim, 32, was wounded, the sources added.
The couple were shot as they were returning home early on Saturday, the sources said, adding that Amina was hit in the face and the stomach and that soldiers prevented anyone from assisting her. (Albawaba.com)
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