West Bank (CNN) -- Israeli troops on Friday fired stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets at a group of about two dozen journalists waiting for the arrival of U.S. Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni at the compound of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
A stun grenade thrown by an Israeli soldier explodes in the middle of a group of journalists in front of Yasser Arafat's compound in the beseiged West Bank city of Ramallah Friday April 5, 2002. Journalists attempting to cover the scheduled meeting between PLO leader Yasser Arafat and U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni were turned back by Israeli soldiers. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
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According to CNN's Michael Holmes, two Israeli military jeeps pulled up along with another unmarked car and ordered the journalists to leave, but not all members of the group heard what the soldiers said. At that point, about six stun grenades were thrown into the midst of the journalists by Israeli soldiers. The members of the media were again ordered to leave, Holmes said.
A stun grenade detonated under Holmes' foot as he fled the scene. No one was injured in the attack. Stun grenades produce a blinding flash and a very loud explosion, designed to disorient those targeted
As the journalists drove off in five armored media vehicles, the soldiers fired rubber-coated bullets on them. Two bullets struck the back of the vehicle being driven by the CNN crew, damaging a rear window.
Some of the journalists had their government-issued media credentials confiscated by the troops.
Zinni is due to meet Arafat at his Ramallah headquarters Friday afternoon. There has been heavy Israeli presence surrounding the compound for the past week, since Israel announced it was "isolating" the Palestinian leader in the wake of recent terror attacks.
Copyright 2002 CNN
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