Israel to hand four cities over to Palestinians

Israel is planning to hand over four West Bank cities to Palestinian control next week to help advance a troubled new peace plan…

Israel is planning to hand over four West Bank cities to Palestinian control next week to help advance a troubled new peace plan, Israeli security sources said.

The agreement in principle was reached in a meeting between Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Security Chief Mohammad Dahlan, a Palestinian official said.

The towns to be handed over will be Ramallah, Tulkarem, Qalqiliya and Jericho, he said, adding that details of the hand over would be discussed in another meeting on Sunday.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah.

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Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment.