Three Sussex students were last night rescued from a siege house after becoming caught up in escalating violence in the Middle East.

The trio were part of a group of nine peace activists who flew out to the war-torn West Bank settlement last week, seven from the University of Sussex, despite Foreign Office advice warning against all travel.

At least one member of their party, Osama Muttawa, 26, is believed to remain trapped in one of the most dangerous parts of the occupied territory.

Salma Karmi, 21, Anais Lafire, 21, and American Keren Wheeler, 23, spent three days trapped inside a house in the Palestinian capital Ramallah as Israeli soldiers surrounded Yasser Arafat's ruined compound nearby.

Human Sciences student Salma and her two colleagues were last night taken to a safe area of the city in an ambulance run by the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committee.

Speaking from Ramallah, Salma told The Argus: "It was very frightening. We were constantly watching for shells and bullets.

"We couldn't leave the house because we were 100 metres from Arafat's compound. There were tanks and soldiers everywhere."

The group were members of a ten-strong party from the university student union's Palestine Solidarity Society. They left Britain last Wednesday, before the siege began, to stay in Israel for two weeks on a bridge-building mission.

Student union president Dan Glazebrook, 24, education officer Sukant Chandan, 23, and Zaki El-Salahi, 21, were already in a safer area of Ramallah when the latest upsurge began.

Negotiations are now under way to secure a safe passage across checkpoints for the seven-mile trip back to Jerusalem. The group was planning to return to Britain on Saturday.

Salma described how the house where she was staying with a Palestinian family was raided by Israeli troops. She said: "That was the high point of the fear for us. They were banging and shouting, turning cupboards upside down and ransacking the place looking for weapons."

"Then they went to the people who lived upstairs and stole 3,000 US dollars, videos, watches and pens."

The visit was aimed at establishing links between Britain and Palestine and was organised by the Ramallah-based Grassroots International Protection for Palestine.

The Sussex students were due to join up to 200 other activists from across Europe on a series of visits to clinics, refugee camps and universities.

They were also set to observe checkpoints and roadblocks, which have become infamous as flashpoints for violence.

Salma's mother, Dr Ghada Karmi, said: "We tried to dissuade her from going but they were all so keen. They felt it was important to show their solidarity. I don't think they reckoned on going into a warzone."

Tim Llewellyn, a family friend, this morning said arrangements were being made to ensure the students' safe return.

A spokeswoman for Sussex University said the visit was being made privately and did not have university backing.