HIGHLIGHTS:9 Palestinians Killed, 17 Arrested in pre-dawn invasion.
Invasion in Reprisal to Resistance Attack on Adora.
Israeli Cabinet Meets to Reconsider Ban on UN Jenin Probe Mission.
(Read photo caption within). STORY: Palestinian security sources said nine people, including two militants and three security men, were killed in the pre-dawn raid on the Palestinian-ruled part of Hebron, a city where several hundred Jewish settlers also live. Israel launched the raid despite U.S. calls for it to pull out of all Palestinian-ruled areas occupied during its savage West Bank offensive. Under the cover of helicopter gunships which fired at least four missiles, tanks and armored vehicles thrust into Hebron shortly before dawn, sparking battles with Palestinian Resistance men.

The occupation army carried out house-to-house searches for militants, arms and explosives in Hebron.

Occupation army sources said 17 militants wanted by Israel had been captured in Hebron, including two Hamas activists.

It was not clear if the incursion marked a full-scale invasion of Hebron, the largest West Bank city that escaped Israel's large-scale military push that began March 29.

Israeli troops moved about 1 miles into the city and appeared to be concentrating on two specific areas, the witnesses said, indicating that the object was to make arrests.

Palestinians said that at least five people were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the incursion.

On Thursday, about 20 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles entered Hebron briefly to arrest suspected militants. In that operation, Ahmed Bashir, a member of the Force 17, an elite security unit, was killed and at least four Palestinians were wounded, Palestinians said.

The incursion is seen by political observers as a reprisal to an attack on the internationally illegal settlement of Adora near the predemonently Palestinian West Bank city of Hebron.

Israeli occupation forces have partially withdrawn from Palestinian towns, except Bethlehem, where a standoff at the Church of the Nativity continued, and Ramallah, where Israeli troops continued to lay siege to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's office.

However, on Sunday, both Israel and the Palestinians accepted an American compromise plan aimed at ending Israel's blockade of Arafat's office, and negotiations continued toward resolving the deadlock in Bethlehem.

UN SECURITY COUNCIL GIVES ISRAEL MORE TIME TO RECONSIDER BAN ON UN JENIN PROBE MISSION

At the same time, Israel on Sunday again delayed a fact-finding mission into Israel's assault on the Jenin refugee camp, but U.N. chief Kofi Annan hoped Israel would reverse its decision Monday

After a hastily called U.N. Security Council meeting to consider the latest delay, members strongly supported Annan's efforts to immediately send the team with full cooperation of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

U.N. Undersecretary-General Kieran Prendergast told the Security Council meeting late Sunday that the Israeli Cabinet would meet on the matter Monday.

Syria has introduced a draft Security Council resolution on behalf of Arab nations demanding that Israel and the Palestinians cooperate fully with the fact-finding team "without any hindrance or conditions."

Arab nations were meeting to decide whether to press for a vote or delay action until after Monday's Israeli Cabinet meeting.
The three-member team, which has been meeting in Geneva, had been scheduled to arrive in Israel on Saturday.

PHOTO CAPTION

A frustrated Security Council gave U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan one more day April 28, 2002 to resolve an embarrassing impasse with Israel over his fact-finding mission into the Israeli attack on the Palestinian Jenin refugee camp. Annan, seen here in an April 12, 2002 file photo, sought the additional day to try to overcome fresh Israeli objections to the mission's ground rules that resulted in the Israeli cabinet complaining that conditions were 'not yet right' for it to proceed as planned. Photo by Jean-Marc Ferre/Reuters
- Apr 28 9:55 PM ET