West Bank ? A top Hamas fugitive blamed for attacks that killed dozens of Israelis and five Americans surrendered to Israeli troops Tuesday after they ringed his West Bank hideout and threatened to demolish it with him inside.

The capture of Ibrahim Hamed, 41, was a blow to Hamas’ morale as the Islamic militants engaged in an increasingly bloody power struggle with gunmen and police loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Army Col. Amir Abulafiyeh, who oversaw the capture, described Hamed as “creative and cruel” in plotting attacks on a Jerusalem university, where the Americans were killed; an Israeli fuel depot; Israel’s rail system; and a pool hall.

Troops acting on a tip surrounded Hamed’s hideout in a two-story building in a well-to-do district of Ramallah, just 200 yards from Abbas’ residence. A dozen jeeps and two armored personnel carriers surrounded the cement-block building, and soldiers called on Hamed over loudspeakers to surrender.

Soldiers warned him in Arabic that the building would be razed if he did not come out. Thirty minutes later, he emerged.