HEBRON, West Bank ? Israeli soldiers retook this divided city Saturday, imposed a curfew and herded dozens of blindfolded Palestinians into buses. It was a first response to a Palestinian ambush that killed 12 members of the security forces lured into a dead-end alley.

Israel’s retaliation was expected to focus on Hebron itself, with troops staying to crush militias. An adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said there was no plan to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, as several Cabinet members demanded.

Friday night’s ambush by the Islamic Jihad group heightened tensions in Hebron, home to 130,000 Palestinians and 450 Jewish settlers. About 1,000 settlers attended a rally after the end of the Sabbath, some chanting “revenge” and “death to the Arabs.” Army commanders urged settler leaders to prevent vigilante action.

In the Gaza Strip, hundreds of Islamic Jihad supporters rallied in celebration. Abdullah Shami, a leader of the group, said “there is no room to give up or to surrender to this criminal Nazi enemy who seeks to exterminate Palestinians in collusion with America.”

The attack began shortly after 7:30 p.m. Friday, after Jewish worshippers had finished Sabbath prayers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in downtown Hebron and were walking back to the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, about half a mile away.

Soldiers, civilians killed

The dead included four Israeli soldiers, five border policemen and three civilian security guards from Kiryat Arba. It was one of the highest death tolls among security forces in a single encounter since the outbreak of fighting in September 2000. Three Palestinian gunmen were also killed.

Early reports had indicated that settlers were among the casualties, but they were out of harm’s way when the shooting at the soldiers began. No worshippers were injured.

An army jeep chasing the gunmen raced into a dead-end alley and came under massive fire from all directions, said Col. Noam Tibon, an army commander.

Among the dead was Hebron brigade commander, Col. Dror Weinberg, the highest-ranking Israeli officer shot dead in more than two years of Mideast violence.

Israeli border police prevent pro-Israeli demonstrators from heading toward Arab homes during a protest rally near the site of an attack on Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank town of Hebron. Israeli soldiers retook this divided West Bank town on Saturday and imposed a curfew in a first response to a Palestinian ambush in Hebron that killed 12 Israelis and wounded 15.

Fourteen soldiers and border policemen were wounded, including several who were in serious condition.

The U.S. State Department condemned the attack as a “heinous crime,” adding that while Israel has the right to take anti-terrorism measures, it must do everything it can to prevent civilian casualties.

Israel strikes

Early today, Israeli helicopters fired three missiles at a target near the Gaza city of Khan Younis, Palestinian security officials said. They said the missiles hit a metal workshop, setting a fire, but no one was hurt. The Israeli military said Palestinians used the metal workshop to make weapons.

Netanyahu said the international community must “support Israel’s right and obligation to take vigorous action against terror and the regimes that back it.”

Netanyahu said he continued to support the expulsion of Arafat. However, Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Sharon, said that a previous Cabinet decision not to expel the Palestinian leader remained in effect.