August 29, 2001

Israeli forces take control of parts of Palestinian town of Beit Jala to stop snipers who have been firing for months on Gilo, neighboring Israeli area on southern edge of Jerusalem; Palestinians charge 'reoccupation' of area supposedly under their control; soldiers also move into Lutheran church compound, using top floors to shoot at gunmen who continue firing on Gilo and on Israeli troops; thousands of Palestinians vow revenge for killing of Mustafa Zibri (Abu Ali Mstafa), leader in Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine and PLO who Israel says was sponsor of car bombings and other terrorist attacks; US warns against raising stakes in conflict; Israeli officials say they have no intention of remaining in Beit Jala but will stay put until there is no more shooting on Gilo; Gen Gershon Yitzhak points out that Palestinian Authority 'did not do its job' in Beit Jala, predominantly Christian town of about 10,000 people; photos; map (M)

New York City Child Welfare Comr Nicholas Scoppetta will close Harlem office that directly runs foster homes in Manhattan and Staten Island because it scored at bottom of systemwide performance evaluation, far below worst-performing nonprofit agency under contract; 280 children will be supervised through better-performing agencies; advocate Marcia Robinson Lowry warns total dependence on private sector does not give city leverage to assure quality services, view that Scoppetta does not dispute (M)

Rolando Paulino All-Stars receive keys to New York from Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani on steps of City Hall for their third place finish in Little League World Series; Dominican government starts investigation into why there are apparently two conflicting birth certificates for pitcher Danny Almonte; photo (M)

Government-controlled Korea Exchange Bank proposes rescue plan for Hynix Semiconductor that would cover at least $4 billion of company's debts (S)

Alan G Hevesi releases first negative television commercial of mayoral campaign, attacking not his rivals for Democratic mayoral nomination but lame-duck Republican incumbent he is seeking to succeed, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani; is portraying himself as whistle-blower who is exposing corruption in Giuliani administration; photo (M)