HEBRON VIOLENCE CONTINUES : ISRAELI TROOPS DODGE ROCKS, SET UP CURFEW.

Byline: Dianna Cahn Associated Press

Palestinians threw stones and bottles at Israeli soldiers Sunday as a U.S. mediator tried to revive negotiations on Israel's withdrawal from this West Bank city.

With tensions high in the city of 500 Jews and 130,000 Palestinians, envoy Dennis Ross said he hoped to ``energize'' the talks on the long-delayed pullout.

The army rounded up about 100 Palestinians after two firebombs were thrown at a Jewish enclave without causing injuries. They were questioned and held at gunpoint for about an hour, but most were released, an army spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

Soldiers in riot gear then closed Palestinian stores in the city's commercial center and announced a curfew on the area. Palestinians responded with a hail of stones and empty bottles.

Soldiers stopped Palestinians in the streets and sniffed their hands for the smell of gasoline used in the homemade explosives.

A third firebomb landed near settler homes in the afternoon. Soldiers blocked the road with the tables of Palestinian street merchants and fired warning shots into the air, according to witnesses and radio reports.

Jewish settlers in Hebron issued a statement calling on the government to suspend talks with the Palestinians in response to the latest incidents.

On Saturday, Israeli soldiers kicked and punched Palestinians when a fight between settlers and schoolchildren escalated into a melee between hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians near Jewish settlements in the Old City.

Girls from the Palestinian school Cordoba protested inside their schoolyard Sunday, holding up signs that read ``Save us,'' and ``Ross, come to see how the students of Cordoba are in prison.''

Ross met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Saturday and early Sunday. He was expected to meet with both again before returning home Monday.

``My purpose right now is to have a chance to talk to the leaders to see what can be done to energize the process,'' Ross said.

Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians over Hebron are deadlocked over Israel's demands to tighten security for the settlers. The Palestinians want to link the Israeli redeployment to a pullout from other parts of the West Bank, which also is promised in existing autonomy accords. Israel was to have withdrawn its troops from Hebron in March.

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PHOTO A Palestinian woman argues with an Israeli soldier during clashes in Hebron over Jewish settlements and military activity in the West Bank.

Associated Press