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Soldiers not trapped, says Israel

JERUSALEM Feb 28. The Israeli army denied a claim by Palestinian gunmen today that they had up to 14 Israeli soldiers pinned down at a school in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank.

The gunmen, contacted by mobile telephone from outside the camp, told reporters they had the soldiers surrounded and were refusing Palestinian Authority appeals to release them.

Israeli forces raided Balata, outside the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, overnight in an operation the army said was designed to crush a ``terrorist infrastructure'' at the camp.

In a statement, an army spokesman said troops had taken over the school as part of the raid.

``There is no siege on the soldiers in the building. Palestinian claims in this regard are baseless,'' it said.

Reuters

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