Israeli troops attack foreign journalists

Israeli troops have thrown stun grenades at a convoy of 25 foreign journalists and consficated some of their identity cards during a confrontation in the West Bank.
The journalists, who were travelling in six armoured cars, were on their way to cover a US envoy's meeting with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, this morning.

The press pack spotted two Israeli jeeps and an unmarked vehicle blocking the access road to Mr Arafat's compound in Ramallah, according to a Reuters correspondent, who was travelling with the group.

The soldiers inside the jeeps then threw stun grenades at the journalists. The grenades are used to disorient and frighten their targets by creating a loud noise and a giving off a bright flash.

As the convoy turned back, some of the journalists left their vehicles and fled on foot but the Israeli border police gave chase and confiscated the identification cards of some of the journalists.

A bullet hole was later discovered in the car used by the CNN crew. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the incident.