A senior Palestinian militant at Jenin refugee camp has said Palestinians surrounded by Israeli soldiers had stopped fighting.
Thirteen soldiers died in fighting there yesterday when a booby-trapped building collapsed on them. Reports of upwards of 100 Palestinian deaths in a week of intensive fighting also emerged.
"The battle is over. There are a large number of martyrs. Many have been arrested. The Israelis are in total control and there is no more fighting", Mr Jamal Abu al-Haija, a senior official from the Islamic militant group Hamas, said.
The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the report of an end to the fighting, which has been the fiercest in the 13-day-old Israeli military offensive on the West Bank.
Mr Abu al-Haija, speaking by telephone from inside the camp, said Palestinian fighters were surrounded by soldiers and armoured vehicles.
Witnesses in the area said troops were calling on people to leave their homes and razing the houses with bulldozers. They said tank and gun fire had been heard this morning but had stopped around mid-morning.