The Israeli army will begin a pullout from two West Bank cities within hours, Israel Radio said this evening.
The report said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, under pressure from US President Bush to start a withdrawal from Palestinian areas seized 10 days ago, had decided Israeli forces would leave the cities of Qalqilya and Tulkarm.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli army.
The radio said Mr Sharon made the decision after consultations with top cabinet ministers and that Israel would announce that its forces were leaving the two cities after completing their mission there to round up militants and weapons.
The report did not say when Israel intended to withdraw from other West Bank cities, villages and refugee camps seized after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 27 people at a Passover holiday dinner in an Israeli hotel on March 27.
Earlier today, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Israel should quit the West Bank "now", warning that its operation was creating "significant and severe" problems.
The Israeli invasion of Palestinian cities begun on March 29th.
"The strategic problems created by this operation are significant and severe," Mr Powell told reporters after meeting King Mohammed VI of Morocco on the first leg of a tour that is to finish in Israel at the end of this week.
"We all believe it is time for them to begin withdrawal," Mr Powell said, speaking after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told parliament his forces had not completed their mission and would stay until it was finished.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in heavy fighting in the refugee camp of the northern West Bank town of Jenin today.
The two were killed by Palestinian fire this morning as fighting raged in the cramped refugee camp, which has been the scene of stubborn resistance despite a heavy pounding by Israeli helicopter gunships.
Elsewhere, a Palestinian boy aged 12 and a 65-year-old man were killed by Israeli fire in Asker refugee camp in Nablus on the West Bank today. The boy, named as Amjad Abidi, was killed by a tank shell fired in the camp in east Nablus, while Hafez Sabra was hit by heavy machinegun fire and three more people were wounded.
Mr Sharon has been criticised after pledging to continue his assault on Palestinian areas.
Speaking in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Mr Sharon claimed to have proof of Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat's involvement in terrorist activities and said the Israeli Army's campaign would continue until `the end'.
Meanwhile, in a statement this morning the Franciscan Order condemned an Israeli army assault on the Church of the Nativity as an act of "indescribable barbarity" after a Palestinian policeman was killed by Israeli gunfire.
Mr Sharon had called on those trapped by Israeli troops in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity to lay down their arms, and vowed the Israeli Defence Force would surround the church until they surrendered.
Dozens of Palestinians sought refuge in the Bethlehem church last Tuesday. The church is built on the traditional site of Jesus' birth, and was targeted after Israeli tanks rolled into the city in search of Palestinian militants.
AFP